Scorpius Malfoy and the Quest for Redemption
by Epic Spy
Summary: "If war breaks out, there won't be a winning side. The wizarding world will be torn apart and everyone loses." Something even Voldemort feared is about to be released into the world, threatening to destroy it forever, and Scorpius Malfoy is the only one who can stop it.
1. Chapter 1: The Boy in the Shadows

**A/N: ****Welcome to my first ever fic! I've dabbled with writing before, but nothing ever seemed to be good enough to post until this idea hit me. This will be a next generation story through all their years at Hogwarts, and I've got most of it planned out. Fair warning, this story is not going to be short, but I update frequently as I can and I will NOT abandon it. I love these characters too much. I hope you stick around and enjoy! UPDATED: Just want to point out a couple things, this is the first chapter and it's just a set up for the plot, I'm much happier with the later chapters. Also, this is ScorpiusXRose, but give it time. I promise it will happen. Alerts make me happy, favorites make me jump for joy and reviews are adored above all else. I hope you give my not so little fic a chance as I am finally done rambling. Enjoy!**

**UPDATED 6/21/12: Warning, there are some dark moments in this story which include character abuse, injury and death. **

**DISCLAIMER: It's not mine. I wish it was, but it never will be.**

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Scorpius Malfoy and the Quest for Redemption

Year One

Chapter 1: The Boy in the Shadows

Depending on who you asked, you would get very different opinions on the only child of Draco Malfoy. His mother would tell you that Scorpius was a charming boy, and smart too. His father would quietly remark that his boy would go farther in life than he did. Most people had a favorable opinion of Scorpius Malfoy, but of course, then there was his grandfather.

On August 31st, five Malfoys sat around the large dining room table in Malfoy Manor. Scorpius sat at the head across from his grandfather as today was his day, the day before he left for Hogwarts to begin his first year. If Scorpius was allowed to be a normal boy, he wouldn't have been able to stay still. Sitting still and being quiet while his parents and grandparents made polite conversation was more painful than usual when he was brimming over with questions about what to expect tomorrow. He knew better than to speak without being addressed when his grandfather was around, so he kept his eyes on his plate, slicing his steak into small pieces and tried to picture Hogwarts castle.

"Scorpius," the voice of his grandfather echoed across the vast room, "In the Slytherin common room you should remember to always-" Scorpius kept his eyes on his grandfather while tuning out the rest of his sentence. Lucius Malfoy made it sound as if he had already been sorted. It was true that Malfoys for generations had been in Slytherin, but that didn't mean that he was destined to be the same.

"Are you listening to me boy?" Scorpius snapped back into focus to see the ice cold eyes of his grandfather glittering dangerously.

Scorpius considered his options, if he said that he was listening, his grandfather would make him repeat what he said last and catch him in his lie. If he said no, that would make his grandfather extremely angry and would probably result in punishment. In a manner similar to his father at his age, Scorpius lifted his head in defiance and said, "No." It was his last night, it's not like the punishment could be that bad.

Lucius's hands tightened around the fork and knife that he was holding. Scorpius watched carefully, ready to pull his brand new wand from his pocket despite being underage with no idea what spell to use. "I wish that you had done a better job raising your boy Draco." Lucius drawled, "If you did, maybe he would have manners more becoming of a Malfoy and not a Weasley." Draco scowled, but remained silent. "Perhaps, the boy should go to his room, now."

Scorpius rose from the dinner table at the dismissal of his grandfather and looked to his mother, "Dinner was lovely Mother, Father, Grandmother." He nodded to the three members of his family that he got along with, and then swept out of the room. As soon as the door to the dining room fell shut, he went running up the spiral staircase, down the hall and into his room. Frantically, he dug around in his packed Hogwarts trunk until his fingers touched the rubber material of a Weasley Wizard Wheezes extendable ear. His family would be disappointed if they knew if he had any of those "rubbish" products, but at times like this, they were incredibly handy.

With the speed and silence of an expert eavesdropper, he slipped down the stairs and into the shadows nearby the door to the dining room. He snaked the ear under the door just enough to hear his family and their murmurs became more clear.

"-Not like you." It was his father speaking, and he sounded angry. Scorpius felt very glad that he was no longer in the room. His father was kind to him, not doting like his mother, but more of a quiet support. When he was in one of his moods though, Scorpius would duck into one of his many hiding places. Now it sounded as if his father's mood would send him running out to the maze of gardens to hide as far away as possible.

"It is fine if he is not exactly like me Draco, but I expected you to teach the boy some manners at the very least. Due to the way that you raised the boy he won't end up in Slytherin and be a disgrace to our family." Lucius spat back.

"You are the disgrace to our family, father, if I remember correctly. I believe that I am the one who has spent nearly twenty years trying to piece our family name back together after you got wrapped up with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The fact that Scorpius is nothing like you, nothing like me when I was his age, makes me hopeful that maybe the Malfoy name won't be worth nothing in a few generations."

"You have not done anything for this family Draco! You didn't marry the woman that we had picked out for you," Scorpius gripped the extendable ear tighter, how dare he insult his mother! "And then you have a child with this woman of your choice and he turns out to be disgrace! If he didn't look so much like you, I would say that Astoria has been sleeping around because he is nothing like this family. Pity that her pathetic personality has rubbed off on the boy."

Scorpius was about to burst into the room ready to hurt his grandfather in anyway possible when there was an explosion. He didn't need the extendable ear to hear the rest of the screams.

"Draco!" His mother yelled.

There was a gurgling noise, and then his father's voice loud but shaking rang out, "Don't you dare insult my wife ever again, or I will do so much worse to you. You are not a part of my family. Sorry for the mess Mother, you can choose to sort out Lucius if you wish. I wouldn't." Scorpius knew that his parents would exit the dining room shortly, so he quickly pulled the extendable ear, shoving it in his pocket as he ran.

The vast Malfoy Manor was like a maze. Scorpius spent many hours exploring all the rooms that were open, and so he knew the quickest way out to the gardens. After a few turns, he burst through the last door and out into the warm night. His anger fueling his speed as he flew across the grounds, past the flowers that he and his mother had tended to together, past the quidditch pitch where his father taught him to fly, and into the orchard where he picked a sturdy apple tree to swing up into.

He gripped the tree so tightly that the bark cut into his skin, drawing drops of blood. Tomorrow he would be leaving for Hogwarts. He wouldn't hear his grandfather screaming at various members of his family. He wouldn't have to see the broken looks in his parents eyes. He wouldn't see his mother cry or his father snap. Eventually, Scorpius knew that the bruises on his body from the beatings his grandfather gave him would fade. At the same time he worried. He worried that Lucius would target his mother when he was gone, and that he would come home and find her even more broken than she was now. Looking up at the stars that many members of his family were named after, Scorpius wished, not for the first time, for his grandfather to die.

"Scorpius?" He glanced away from the stars and saw his mother standing at the base of the tree. Her eyes were red and she looked even more pale in the moonlight. Being careful of his scraped hands, Scorpius swung down from the tree landing with a thump in front of her. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled a few leaves out of his light hair. "I'm so proud of you Scorp, your father and I love you very much and know you will do great things. It doesn't matter which house you are put in, what matters is what you do in your life."

He nodded and gently wrapped his arms around his mother. "I know Mum, I'll be fine tomorrow."

As he and his mother sat outside that night until the sun rose and the stars faded, hiding from the shouts and curses that were no doubt echoing around the Manor, Scorpius Malfoy knew that he would be fine no matter what house he ended up in. What he was worried about was the day after, once the news of which house he was in spread.


	2. Chapter 2: Judgements and Tricks

Chapter 2: Judgements and Tricks

The Hogwarts Express in real life was even more amazing than the stories his parents told Scorpius decided. Everything had an air of what could only be described as magic as hundreds of students and their families bustled about. His father set down his trunk nearby the train as his mother gave him a hug and sniffed.

"Mum!" Scorpius hissed, glancing around to see if anyone noticed, "Don't make a scene, I'll be back soon enough."

His mother held him back at arm's length, "Scorp, don't make fun of your mother for crying when her only child goes off to school!" She dropped her voice, "Don't you dare develop the Malfoy attitude Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy or else I'll send you a howler everyday until you graduate."

"Sorry Mum."

"And you better remember that it doesn't matter to either of us which house you are in." His mother hugged him one last time, adding a kiss on the cheek and an "I love you!" Before Scorpius turned to his father.

The war and the years after were tough on his father, and Scorpius was struck with the sudden realization of how worn his father looked. The two never were as close as Scorpius was to his mother, but they still had a fairly decent relationship. His father gave him a half hug and simply said, "You'll do well." The whistle blew, and Scorpius scrambled onto the train with his trunk, waving to his parents one last time before dragging his trunk down the train.

The most noise that he had heard in his entire life hit him the second he opened the door to step into the corridor. Owls were hooting, children were screaming and laughing, and sounds that oddly sounded like explosions seemed to be coming from some compartments. Scorpius yanked his trunk down the hall, ducking his head to avoid being noticed by the older students who were easily two feet taller than he was. He peered into each compartment, searching for an empty one. About halfway down the train, he stopped at a compartment full of people. Most of the children had bright red hair, with the occasional dark haired child mixed in. The Weasleys and the Potters. Scorpius couldn't name any of the children, but he knew that somewhere the kids of the Golden Trio were mixed in there.

Being a Malfoy, he had heard many terrible things about the Potter-Weasley family from his grandfather. His grandfather insisted that they were a disgrace to the wizarding race, and shouldn't be associated with under any circumstances. When his parents told of their Hogwarts days, they pointed out that the Weasleys were not that bad, and Harry Potter had saved Draco's life. As Scorpius watched the children laughing, he couldn't see anything wrong with the family.

One of the smaller girls with bushy red hair suddenly glanced up and saw him looking in. Knowing his family's rocky past, Scorpius wasn't sure how the Weasleys would react to his presence so, he hurried on before anyone else saw him until he finally, thankfully, found an empty compartment. He threw himself onto the seat and let the door slide shut. Even though he had spent most of his childhood alone, surrounded by all these people who only knew him as Malfoy made him feel more lonely. Suddenly frustrated by his family's name, he kicked open his trunk and yanked out _The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1_. Might as well study, he thought bitterly, and maybe I'll make it into Ravenclaw.

xXx

Dressed in his new school robes, Scorpius pressed his face to the glass the Express pulled into the station. No one had come to sit with him at all during the journey, but whenever he glanced up from his book, there seemed to be students looking in at him. No doubt going to spread the news that a Malfoy was on the train. No one directly bothered him though. Yet.

He followed the mass of students exiting the train and felt as if he was going to be crushed underneath hundreds of feet when he heard the call of, "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" He quickly chased after a group of shorter students and sighed in relief when he no longer felt that he was going to be trampled. His relief was short lived when he first saw Hagrid. His father said that he was a half giant, which made Scorpius pause as he thought of how big a full giant would be if Hagrid was only half of one.

There was a call to allow four to a boat, and Scorpius stumbled over to the boats. He picked an empty one and was about to step in, when he felt hands on his shoulders and was shoved from behind. The water was bloody cold Scorpius decided, and ridiculously deep. His robes seemed to drag him down further into the murky depths as he frantically tried to get his head back above the water. He kept thrashing searching for which way was up bubbles obscuring his vision, his lungs about to burst. I'm going to die he thought as he couldn't hold his breath any longer and water began to fill his lungs.

There was a tug on his robes, and suddenly he was lifted and thrown into a boat. Hagrid stood over him as he rolled to the side and coughed up water. "Ther' ye go Malfoy, we'll get ye to the castle an' warmed up." Scorpius curled into a ball, shaking. I'm such a pansy he thought bitterly as Hagrid took pity on him and wrapped him into his giant coat. If things don't change, this school will be the death of me.

The first time that Scorpius saw the castle, he was being carried in by Hagrid who was saying something about the color blue and water. Why am I being carried? Scorpius thought stupidly. "Merlin!" Someone cried before he was suddenly jostled around. "Drink this." Scorpius found something warm placed at his lips. As the liquid dipped down his throat, the world came into focus. He was laying in the entrance way, surrounded by a group of frightened first years, Hagrid, and another adult who was clutching the potion that made Scorpius feel better.

"What happened?" Scorpius said as he sat up, shrugging off Hagrid's coat.

"You nearly drown!" The unknown man cried, flicking his wand so Scorpius was dry again. "Are you alright?" Scorpius nodded. "Good? Good. Onto the sorting then!" With a flourish, the man pushed open some large doors and ushered the students into the Great Hall.

Scorpius was feeling overwhelmed. First he nearly was killed, then he wakes up and discovers that the time to be sorted was right now. As he lined up in front of the rest of the students, everything seemed to be blurring. Was it due to nearly dying? The fear of which house he would end up in? He tried to focus. There were candles floating on the ceiling, which looked like the sky. The man who gave him the potion was setting out the sorting hat. The hat was singing about Slytherin who was cunning and sly. A girl was sorted into Hufflepuff, and a boy into Slytherin. Time finally stopped jumping around when a dark haired boy next to Scorpius elbowed him in the side and he realized that the name that had just been called was his.

On shaking legs, he made his way to the stool and closed his eyes. The second before the hat was dropped onto his head, Scorpius thought as hard as he could, not Slytherin, not Slytherin, not Slytherin.

"Ah. A Malfoy who doesn't want to be in Slytherin," the hat whispered in his ear. "This is unusual."

"I don't want to be like the rest of my family." Scorpius thought back.

"Yes, I can see that. No matter, you wouldn't fit there anyways. You are very different from any Malfoy that I've ever come across. You will do great things Scorpius Malfoy, and I'll give you your best chance at accomplishing those things in GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat was pulled from his head and Scorpius's eyes flew open as he was suddenly struck with the horrible realization that he had landed himself in the one house that was guaranteed to cause his grandfather to kill him. Polite cheering broke out from the Gryffindor table, and Scorpius held his head high as he walked over to the mass of scarlet. He wouldn't let them see how frightened he was, how the hat said that it would give him his best chance in life and then handed him a death sentence. Scorpius dropped into a seat a little removed from the rest of his new housemates and glanced up at the remaining unsorted first years.

The rest of the Gryffindors quickly looked away when Scorpius glanced up, and pretended that they were not staring at him. The call for "Potter, Albus" turned everyone's attention back to the front of the Great Hall, and the boy that had elbowed Scorpius came forward looking sickly pale.

The hat dropped over his face as the Potter boy gripped the stool tightly. It seemed like ages until the brim of the hat opened and declared, "GRYFFINDOR!" Beaming at his family who cheered louder than anyone, he made his way towards the table, passed his family, and to Scorpius's complete shock, dropped into the seat across from him.

"I'm Albus Potter," he said, sticking out his hand with a grin.

Scorpius couldn't believe that Harry Potter's son was talking to him, so it took him longer than usual to stick his hand back out, "Scorpius Malfoy."

"Nice going getting yourself in here, you're like the first Malfoy in what, a century or something, that hasn't gotten themselves stuck in Slytherin, right?"

"I suppose, but I'm not like them."

Albus grinned, "I know you're here, that's bound to make the older Malfoy's pretty upset. You've got the bravery part down it seems." Scorpius groaned as he was reminded about telling his family about his sorting.

"Weasley, Rose."

"Oh, that's my cousin!" Albus cried craning his neck to see the red haired girl that had seen Scorpius on the train march over to the hat.

It only took a split second for the call of "GRYFFINDOR!" to ring across the hall and Rose quickly ran over to the table and took a seat next to Albus.

Before Rose could even open her mouth, the Headmistress, McGonagall, stood up silencing the room with a stern look, before announcing, "Eat up." At that command, food appeared all along the tables.

Albus and Scorpius immediately grabbed some food, but Rose folded her arms and narrowed her eyes, "You're a Malfoy."

Scorpius nodded between bites of chicken, "And you're a Weasley."

"Why are you here then?"

"Rose!" Albus cried, dribbling food down his chin, "Be nice, he's not a Slytherin so he must be a decent bloke."

"Remember Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor dear cousin of mine?" Rose snapped back.

The two cousins glared at each other for a moment before Albus said, "What did Uncle Ron say to you?"

Rose slumped at her cousin's guess, "Stay away from Malfoy."

"What would Aunt Hermione tell you?"

"Don't judge a book by it's cover."

"And which one of your parents is usually right?"

Rose looked upset for a moment before turning to Scorpius, "I'm Rose. Sorry, I didn't expect you to not end up in Slytherin."

"It's fine. Most people probably think that the hat's gone barmy for sorting me here anyways." The three new Gryffindors went back to their food trying to avoid any mentions of Scorpius's family. Rose babbled on about classes and which subjects she wanted to sign up for when she got to her third year. Albus talked about quidditch and claimed that he was going to try and follow his father and play seeker.

Eventually the last specks of food vanished from the plates and McGonagall stood up once more to point out once more that Filch would confiscate any dangerous products, the Forbidden Forest was not allowed to be explored, class schedules would be handed out tomorrow morning. Scorpius stopped listening when he realized that Albus was reciting the speech along with McGonagall until Rose hit him and told him to shut up.

"Prefects will show the first years to their houses. Good night!" Everyone stood up and the three new friends followed a boy calling for the Gryffindor first years that Scorpius learned was yet another Weasley named Louis. Louis led them up stairs, through walls that seemed solid, up even more stairs before stopping at a picture and announcing, "Hippogriff."

Scorpius decided that he liked the Gryffindor common room much more than what he had heard about the Slytherin one. The room was warm and bright with comfortable looking chairs placed around the room. As he and Albus headed up towards their rooms, Scorpius felt that he found a place that he might actually be happy in.

That sense of comfort was short lived however when Albus opened his trunk and suddenly found himself covered in some kind of red sludge. "JAMES!" He screamed. From the corner of the room, two grinning boys materialized as they pulled off a shimmering cloak.

"Look Al, now you're really showing your Gryffindor spirit by sporting that red," said the red haired boy.

"Fred, James, get this off," Albus growled as he flicked some goop back at the two boys.

"Fine brother," said the dark haired boy with a flick of his wand, "Don't get your wand in a twist, it was just a practical joke welcoming you to the best house in Hogwarts."

"Now I feel welcomed," Albus grumbled as he yanked his toothbrush out and stalked to the bathroom.

Scorpius stood awkwardly by his bed as the two boys began to head out. Just before they stepped out of the room, they turned and grinned, "By the way Malfoy," the dark haired boy said with a gleam in his eyes, "I'm James, this is Fred, and we are the pranksters of Hogwarts. As a friend of my little brother, you are going to be a target. No hard feelings right?" With that, the two older boys left the room laughing.

Scorpius now fearing what was going to happen to him flopped down on his bed. Albus poked his head back into the room, "Are those gits gone yet? By the way mate, your hair's bright red."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Next chapter classes begin and a mysterious note is delivered as the plot finally begins.**


	3. Chapter 3: Promises or Threats?

**Disclaimer: I forgot this last chapter, but I still don't own anything.**

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Chapter 3: The Fine Line Between a Promise and a Threat

By the time that Scorpius and Albus had made it to the Great Hall the next morning, they were both in a terrible mood. James had finally relented to change Scorpius' hair back, but did so while Fred snuck into the first year dorms and charmed their robes. Scorpius now was sporting bright red robes with the words, "I'm not a stinking Slytherin" written on the back in sparkling emerald letters. Albus had it worse. His robes were bright pink and read, "I'm not as cool as my awesome brother James."

By the time that the two boys reached the Gryffindor table, snickers were echoing around the hall. Rose glanced up from her breakfast sighing, and pointed down the table where James and Fred were exchanging high fives with their friends.

In a second Albus was standing over James looking murderous. "Fix it."

James grinned widely, "Why should I?"

The look on Albus' face made Scorpius think that perhaps there was a Gryffindor first year that should have been sorted into Slytherin. "April of last year."

James paled, "There is no way that you can know about that."

"Do you want to find out?"

James quickly changed their robes back to black, "Al, you frighten me more than Lily sometimes. That's not a good thing."

Albus turned to go sit with Rose, but Scorpius gave a quick, "Thanks," before following.

Rose passed their class schedules to them as they took their seats. "Neville just handed these out. By the way, how did you get James to change you back? He never fixes anything that quickly unless it's some kind of master plan."

"Albus _threatened_ him. It was fantastic!" Scorpius said, helping himself to an apple, "What happened last April?"

"There are somethings that you aren't prepared to hear, and besides, the whole point of blackmail is you spread the information around if they don't do what you say." Albus said cryptically.

Rose stared. "I'm related to you?"

At that moment, hundreds of owls flew inside the Great Hall, announcing the arrival of the post. Most kids received notes from their families wishing them good luck. Fred and James received a box and quickly tucked it away from sight. A few owls flew towards Scorpius, Albus and Rose, knocking over goblets as they tried to give their parcels to the correct recipient.

Rose tore into her package and lifted out a Gryffindor tie, voicing her delight. Albus read his note from his parents, his messy dark hair falling in his face. Scorpius glanced at the two owls in front of him. One of them he recognized as his family's owl, Ceres, the other he'd never seen before. After Scorpius collected the two letters, the owls flew away. Seeing his mother's familiar scrawl on the first letter, Scorpius sighed in relief and opened it.

_Dear Scorpius,_

_I am assuming the reason that you haven't written us telling which house you are in is because you aren't a Slytherin. Tell me, what house were you sorted into? Any of the other students seem nice? What classes did you go to on your first day? I got lost my first day, my first week actually, so don't be upset if you do too. Scorp, if you weren't sorted into Slytherin, I'm sure the rest of the family will come around. I can't wait to hear from you!_

_Love, Mum_

Scorpius stared in shock at his mother's letter. "I'm sure they will come around?"

"Who does what now?" Albus said, tucking his note away.

"My mother is under the impression that my family will 'come around' to the idea that I wasn't sorted into Slytherin!"

"Well, if you just got a nice letter from your Mum then maybe they are already coming around-"

Scorpius cut Rose off, "I haven't told them."

Rose opened her mouth to continue ranting, but after a minute simply gave a weak, "Oh."

"Well I'm sure that they will have to come around, I mean, you're blood and all. Family." Albus said, looking unconvinced.

"Maybe if everything in my life was as perfect as it is in yours." Scorpius snapped bitterly. "We don't all have the most kind and loving people in our lives. We aren't all bloody Potters or Weasleys." He quickly scooped up his things and slung his bag over the shoulder that wasn't bruised from his grandfather's "lessons" a week ago. "I'll see you later."

As Scorpius stalked out of the Great Hall, he glanced over at the Slytherin table. The majority of them were watching him making faces and rude hand gestures. In his hurry to escape from the rest of the students, Scorpius had forgotten that he had classes this morning. Now that he was standing at the foot of the grand staircase, he realized how completely and utterly alone he was. His stupid wish to be different from his family had gone and landed him in Gryffindor, which would undoubtedly cause further tension between his grandparents and parents. Of course he then treated his new housemates horribly when they mentioned his family. To top it all off, there was his family name, which kept most people at a distance anyways.

"How in Merlin's name am I brave or noble with all that going on?" Scorpius muttered as he started up the stairs. A second later, for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Scorpius suddenly found himself shoved from behind. He threw out his hands to catch his fall and then turned quickly to face his attacker.

To his surprise, he came face to face with a young round faced girl with dark hair and a yellow tie hanging loosely around her neck. "Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry! I can be such a klutz, just ask my dad. Actually, don't my dad. He probably would tell embarrassing stories. I'm rambling, sorry. I'm Alice Longbottom. My dad's Herbology professor."

Scorpius clambered to his feet, "I'm-"

"Scorpius Malfoy. I know. I think everyone knows who you are, especially after that sorting. Gryffindor, that's fantastic! Are you upset about it? Actually ignore me, if you're upset you probably don't want to talk about it. You're heading off to class now right?" Scorpius barely got the chance to nod before Alice grabbed his hand and began dragging him up the stairs. "Perfect! Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors have Charms together first. You're lucky that you ran into me!" Scorpius wished to point out that actually, he wasn't the one who was running into anyone, but Alice continued to chatter. "My dad's a professor and all, so I know where all the classrooms are."

Scorpius found that Alice didn't really expect to hold an actual conversation. She would continue a stream of chatter that allowed him to instead try to memorize the way that they were going so that he wouldn't get lost next time. He was sidetracked however when he suddenly realized that Alice's hand was still tightly gripping his own. Feeling incredibly uncomfortable, he quickly managed to pry his hand away. Unfortunately, this caused Alice to stop and quickly turn on him. "What's wrong?"

"Er, what?"

"Why'd you let go of my hand? Do you not like it? Are your palms all sweaty? Mine get that way sometimes, I don't mind it. Or, oh! You have a girlfriend don't you?" This time, Alice paused staring up into his face expectantly.

Scorpius was shocked. Living in Malfoy Manor hadn't exactly been a way to make any friends, and so he was completely unaccustomed to any sort of female attention. "What? No, I'm eleven! I- I- I don't know what's going on." He spluttered his eyes widening as he took in the determined girl before him.

"Well, ok then. Listen up." She threaded her finger back between his. "Scorpius Malfoy, I'm going to be your first kiss." He quickly dropped her hand and backed towards the wall. "Not now! Merlin, you're jumpy for a Gryffindor. No, two years from now, third year. Meet me in this corridor before breakfast on the first day of term. Now, I won't mention it again, but I'm pretty sure that you'll remember, and you'll come." She grinned widely and winked before pushing open a door across the hall and sauntering through.

Scorpius stared in shock at the door as it swung shut. All he could gather was that Alice Longbottom was a girl, girls were confusing, and so Alice Longbottom was very confusing. What was going on? Did he just make a promise to snog a girl in two years?

Albus and Rose found Scorpius in that same position when they hurried down the hall nearly two minutes later. "Look Scorpius, I'm really sorry. I don't really know that much about you and all. Anyways, friends?" Albus looked at him expectantly. Scorpius nodded mutely, still staring at the door.

"What is your problem?" Rose demanded stepping in front of Scorpius.

"Alice Longbottom."

"Oh no." Rose stepped towards Scorpius, making him back away quickly.

"What are you doing?" He squeaked in a very un-masculine way that caused Albus to fall on the floor laughing.

"Just checking to see if Alice did anything to you. You're still fantastically awkward, so good job fending off her advances. She's a pretty big chatty flirt."

"I'd say. I think I just agreed to snog her in two years." Scorpius entered the Charms classroom with a frown on his face with two laughing cousins trailing behind him.

xXx

After a double block introduction to Charms with an ancient Professor Flitwick, the reunited trio went down to lunch. Despite Scorpius' attempts to remember the way that Alice had led him three hours ago, he ended up relying on Rose's lead.

"We should probably start on that essay Professor Flitwick assigned tonight. It shouldn't take long, but better to get it done early."

"Rose, shut up. It's just a small paper on what we are excited to learn about in Charms! I could write that in less than five minutes." Albus whined.

"But Albus," Scorpius cut in, mocking Rose's tone, "What if you don't have five minutes later?"

Albus tried to hide a smirk as he sighed dramatically, "Maybe then I'll only take four minutes when I write it."

"I hate you boys." They took seats at the Gryffindor table, but Rose wasn't ready to forgive the boys and eat. "Scorpius, what did that second note say?"

"What note?" He said between bites of a sandwich.

"Ew, gross. Chew your food Scorpius! The other note, not the one from your Mum."

"You got another note?"

"Way to be observant Al."

Scorpius had forgotten all about the other note and quickly opened his bag and dug it up. Written in small, curly handwriting it read:

_There is a reason you were placed in Gryffindor. We are watching. Don't disappoint._

* * *

**A/N: I loved writing this chapter. Still a little bit of background, but shaping the character's personalities was so much fun. Scheming Albus, observant Rose, awkward Scorpius and flirting Alice will be making more appearances later, but look the plot has begun! Who sent the note and why? I'm pretty sure that no one will guess who sent it, but feel free to try.**

**Just a touch of awkward romance here. It's only the first day of first year so poor Scorp is completely unprepared. Flirty!Alice was just so much fun to write. Neville's daughter a flirt? Why not? Hope that she made you smile, if not I won't make her a major part of the story... Yet. She's important later. Never fear any ScorpiusXRose fans, that will be coming later once Scorpius doesn't want to run away from girls anymore.**

**I've pretty much mapped out the first year completely. We should have about nine chapters of first year, unless I combine some parts. I promise that there is a plot for the first year story arc, and it's MUCH more complicated than a simple, mysterious note.**

**Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Feedback is greatly appreciated. Simply putting this story on alert even motivates me and makes me smile.**

**Next Chapter: The trio tries to figure out where the note came from. Albus gets bored. Rose proves that she is her father's daughter. Scorpius meets the person who shoved him in the lake, and takes a trip to the Hospital Wing. ****Herbology with the Hufflepuffs is awkward for everyone. **


	4. Chapter 4: Friends, Family, Enemies

**Disclaimer: If I owned the world of Harry Potter, I'd probably live in the castle at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter just so I could say I lived at Hogwarts. But I don't so I guess I'll stay here.**

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Chapter 4: Friends, Family, and a Few Enemies

Scorpius crumpled the note into a ball and shoved it back into his bag angrily. "I am so sick and tired of people nosing into my business!"

Rose frowned, "Scorpius, I think you should be concerned here, not angry. I think someone is threatening you." Albus nodded in agreement.

Scorpius laughed bitterly, "Don't you think I'm used to threats by now? My last name is Malfoy. If I had a Galleon for every time someone threatened me or my family I'd be able to buy my own flat in Diagon Alley. If I took any of them seriously, I would probably be living in a bunker in a far away country. I don't take threats seriously!"

"What if the threat is delivered in person?" Scorpius snapped around and found himself looking at a tall Slytherin boy. He couldn't believe that his day was about to get any worse, but he wasn't about to allow himself to get pushed around.

Scorpius stood up, trying to make himself look taller than he actually was, but still only came up to the chest of the massive boy. "If the threat is delivered in person," he said quietly, "then I might have to do something about it."

"Scorpius!" Rose hissed, "That's who pushed you in the lake!" Scorpius felt a moment of panic as the horrible thought that this huge boy was only a first year.

The boy laughed, "I tried to make things so much easier, get rid of you before the sorting, and I wouldn't have to deal with you in Slytherin. Looks like I didn't have to worry, you prefer the company of blood traitors."

Albus made a move to stand up, but Scorpius put a hand up to stop him. "I'd rather hang with those you call blood traitors than be anywhere near you."

Scorpius pulled out his wand, and the other boy laughed, "You think you know any spells that could stop me?"

"_Petrificus_-!"

The other boy moved faster. His hand curled into a fist and drove itself into Scorpius' face. He crumpled to the ground as his wand fell useless from his hand. The last thing he heard before he blacked out were Rose and Albus' shouts.

xXx

When Scorpius woke up, he was alone in the hospital wing. Gingerly, he touched his face, but it didn't feel like anything was wrong. With a groan, he closed his eyes. It had been one day and he'd already been in a fight. What was wrong with him? A nasty voice in his head pointed out that the Malfoy in him may finally be coming out.

The door burst open, and a nervous looking Rose entered the room. "You're awake!" She hurried to his bedside and shoved him back onto the pillow when he tried to sit up. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Really, stop it!" Rose stopped fluffing his pillows and allowed him to sit up. "What happened after I got knocked out?"

Rose smirked. Scorpius was momentarily frightened, he couldn't imagine Rose looking smug ever. "Al and I hexed that prick Bryce."

"You did _what_?"

"So Paul Bryce, that's the Slytherin git who's been messing with you, he punched you in the face-"

"I remember that." Scorpius winced as he remembered the feeling of his nose breaking under Bryce's fist.

"Al and I didn't like that too much. Al hit him with Aunt Ginny's famous bat bogie hex and I hexed him to have a head as big as his ego. He couldn't move because his head was so big and he couldn't see. I wish you could have seen. I hope someone got a picture of it especially because he cried."

"You made him _cry_?"

Rose leaned forward and narrowed her eyes, "Don't mess with me." Scorpius was grateful that he was friends with the Potters and Weasleys. If the rest of the family was anything like Rose, Albus, James and Fred, it would be frightening to face any of them angry.

She settled back in her chair and smiled, "Since you've been out all day, you missed Potions and Transfiguration. Professor Slughorn and Professor Barrow were not happy that you have already missed classes."

"It's not like I chose to be passed out in the hospital wing," Scorpius grumbled.

Rose bit her lip, "Yeah, but Neville thinks you could have stopped the fight. You, me and Al have detention tomorrow night. But look, I asked Al to show me the kitchens and I brought you some food."

Scorpius sighed as he accepted the pile of food that Rose dumped in his lap. "Where is Albus anyways?"

"We were sitting here for ages waiting for you to wake up and he got bored. I'm not sure what he's up to now."

At that moment the matron, Madame Fawcett, came in to check in Scorpius and decided that he was well enough to return to the common room.

Scorpius didn't see Madame Fawcett's face as the two of them walked out. The motherly matron took one look at the blonde boy who wanted to be different from the rest of his family and the red haired girl who was just as fiery as the rest of the Weasley's and laughed. "Those two will end up being a couple someday or I'll quit my job."

xXx

Scorpius stepped off the staircase on the seventh floor to return to the Gryffindor common room, but was promptly dragged back by Rose. "What are you doing?" He cried as he lost his footing.

"I'm taking you up to the Owlery. You need to write your mom back like a good little boy." She said condescendingly.

"May I please remind you that I have almost died, been attacked by a girl, been knocked out and received detention in the past two days? The last thing that I want to do is let my family know that I'm a Gryffindor and add their names to the list of people that have it out for me."

Rose looked positively frightful when she turned to face Scorpius. He had heard stories of her father's temper, and it seemed that Rose had inherited it. Her face was nearly as red as her wild hair, and her blue eyes glinted angrily, "You will write her, now."

Scorpius swallowed and considered which was more frightening, the witch in front of him or his grandfather that he wouldn't see until Christmas break. "Okay."

Rose beamed and led him up to the Owlery. She called down a school owl while Scorpius tried to figure out what to say. His mother wouldn't be able to hide his letter, so whatever he wrote would spread quickly. He couldn't mention that he had missed most of his classes due to already being in a fight, and if he mentioned that his friends were Albus Potter and Rose Weasley he would probably be transferred to Durmstrang. After a moment, he put his quill to the paper and wrote.

_Dear Mum,_

_Gryffindor._

_Love, Scorpius_

Rose took one look at the note and shook her head, mumbling something that sounded like coward. The two watched the owl fly away and Scorpius felt the sinking feeling that he would regret sending the note. Once the owl vanished into the sunset, Rose gently turned him away from the window and the two began heading back to the common room.

Halfway back, they heard a soft knock coming from a closet. "What's that?" Scorpius said, reaching for the doorknob.

"Are you mental?" Rose grabbed his arm, "We go to a _magic_ school. Something dangerous could be in there, or it could be a snogging couple. Either way, I don't think opening strange doors is a good idea."

At the sound of their voices, the banging got louder, and a voice cried, "Help!" At that, Rose forgot her past reservations, and yanked the door open herself. Albus tumbled out of the closet looking frightened, "Thank Merlin you found me!"

"Al?" Rose raised an eyebrow, "What were you doing in a broom closet?"

"Peeves," He said, as Scorpius helped him up. "He chased me into there and locked the door. He said that's what I get for being an 'ickle little firstie exploring by his lonesome.'"

Rose and Scorpius tried to hide their laughs and look concerned. Rose managed to recover first, "I'm sorry Al. How long were you in there?"

"Ever since I left you at the kitchens saying that I was bored." Albus shuddered.

"Well," Scorpius said with a laugh, "Maybe that is your punishment for leaving my bedside while I was in the hospital wing."

"Shut up. I hexed that git and got detention for it. I think I've been punished enough."

The three entered the common room and dragged a tired protesting Scorpius over to the massive group of red heads that occupied one corner. "Mate, you have to meet our family." Albus said as an explanation.

The group looked up at James' call, "Hey look its the first years with Scorpy!"

"Hey everyone," Rose said, as she dragged Scorpius onto a couch and forced him to sit down and relax. "This is Scorpius. He's cool, so don't be stupid."

"When are we ever stupid Rosie?" Said a grinning older looking girl with darker features than the rest of the family.

"I won't answer that question Roxie. So first we have the seventh years, Victorie and Molly. Molly's head girl, so watch out." Molly made an unhappy noise and narrowed her eyes. "Dom, Victorie's younger sister is a sixth year. Roxie and Louis are fifth years. Louis is a prefect and Victorie and Dom's only brother. Roxie is like her brother Fred, she gets into plenty of trouble."

"And I'm proud of that." Roxie said exchanging a high five with her brother.

"Lucy is Molly's sister, she's a second year." Lucy smiled and waved at Scorpius. "You've already run into the other second years James and Fred, so you know to watch out for them. That's it for everyone who's here. There's Teddy Lupin who is practically James and Al's older brother, but he's probably going to marry Victorie someday." James and Fred whistled and Victorie blushed. "There's also my little brother Hugo and Al's sister Lily, but they won't be here for two more years. That's it right?" Rose trailed off looking around the room at her nine other cousins.

Scorpius tried to memorize everyone's names and nodded mutely. Molly pulled out her bag, "You all should work on your homework. Get ahead."

Rose nodded vigorously and pulled out her books, "I'll catch you up on what you missed Scorpius." Scorpius wanted to go upstairs and go to sleep, but he saw that the rest of the Weasleys were being forced to stay by Molly. Friends of the family eventually wandered over and the group of working students became much louder. Scorpius watched James, Fred and their friends charm Albus' Charms essay to erase the last sentence he had written every time he looked away. After he noticed the problem, he chucked a book at the boys and gave them a Slytherin worthy glare. Rose also received a glare when she pointed out that it took longer than five minutes for Albus to write his essay.

Scorpius tried to stay out of everyone's way. Rose spent a while with him working on reviewing the Potions and Transfiguration that he had missed, but eventually she drifted off to a quieter corner to work on her own homework. Albus and James were bickering again, egged on by Roxie and Fred. Thinking that it was time for him to leave, he began putting his books away.

Just before Scorpius slipped away up the stairs to his room, he heard a "Hey." He glanced up to find a red haired girl with glasses standing above him.

It took him a moment to remember that she the second year named Lucy. He smiled back, "Hi."

She took the seat that Rose had left earlier, "This probably is really overwhelming for you, isn't it?" Scorpius nodded. "My dad tells me a little bit about his work at the Ministry. He says that your dad's really quiet. Dad was shocked when I owled him that Draco Malfoy has a son in Gryffindor. He didn't even know that you existed. I'm guessing you don't get out much."

Scorpius gave her a weak grin. "I've been some places, like to my Aunt's and Diagon Alley sometimes, but mostly I stay home 'cause... Because." He fell silent, not bothering to say that his grandparents were ashamed to be seen with him.

Lucy nodded thoughtfully, "That's what I thought. You seem nice Scorp. Could I call you that? It's less of a mouthful than Scorpius."

"Sure. That's what my mom calls me. Being called Scorpius sounds like I'm about to be lectured."

She laughed, "Well Scorp, I don't want to sound like I'm lecturing you so that's settled then."

The two sat in companionable silence for a moment before Scorpius bid her goodnight. He passed James and Albus, who were still arguing, and Rose who had fallen asleep on her books before taking the stairs two at a time to collapse into bed at last.

xXx

The next morning when the owl post came, the three first years had been joined by Lucy to Albus and Rose's shock. "We don't usually see each other much. Never really saw eye-to-eye. It must be something you said last night Scorpius." Albus whispered with a wink.

Scorpius quickly forgot Lucy's appearance when he saw an owl with a bright red envelope tied to it flying towards him. "Oh no. Please Merlin no." The owl swooped down and held out the letter.

"Just get it over with," Lucy said, cringing away.

Scorpius reached for the letter, "Wait!" Cried Rose, "Once you untie it, run. Letting the Slytherin gits hear what that letter says will not be good. Just run." Scorpius swallowed, untied the letter and bolted for the door.

He nearly made it. If he had been a bit taller, he could have made it out of the Great Hall, but unfortunately, the letter exploded just before he reached the doors.

"SCORPIUS HYPERION MALFOY, I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE ASHAMED OF YOU IN MY LIFE. I ALWAYS KNEW THAT YOU WERE WEAK BOY, AND NOW YOU HAVE LANDED YOURSELF IN GRYFFINDOR. _GRYFFINDOR_! JUST BECAUSE THIS FAMILY'S REPUTATION MEANS NOTHING TO YOU DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU CAN DISGRACE US LIKE THIS. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR YOU TO HAVE BEEN SOME HUFFLEPUFF SCUM AS THEY DON'T HAVE ANY HONOR, JUST LIKE YOU. YOU ARE NOT A MALFOY. DON'T EXPECT TO BE TREATED LIKE ONE EVER AGAIN. I WILL BEAT YOU WITHIN AN INCH OF YOUR LIFE TO ERASE THE MUDBLOOD-LOVING PART OF YOU WHEN I SEE YOU NEXT. YOU ARE JUST THE SAME AS YOUR-"

The yelling stopped as a female voice cut in, "Scorp, don't listen! It's alright, I'm proud of you-" It sounded like something exploded and then a cry of pain.

"STAY OUT OF THIS YOU USELESS WHORE-"

"_Confringo_!" Rose stood with tears in her eyes and her wand outstretched as the letter exploded. Scorpius stood staring at the ashes of his grandfather's howler as they fell. Rose reached out and touched his shoulder, "Scorpius-"

"Don't." For the second time in the past two days he left the Great Hall quickly. He didn't hear the jeers of the Slytherins, or Rose calling after him as he ran blindly through his tears. What was wrong with him? Malfoys shouldn't cry. Maybe there was something off about him. On the second floor landing, Rose caught up to him and dragged him to a stop. "What?" He snarled. She simply looked at him and pulled him into a hug. For a moment, he tried to break her grip, but Rose had already grown taller than he had and could keep him still.

Eventually, he dropped his head onto her shoulder and hugged her back. "I'm sorry Scorp." She whispered, "I really am."

xXx

The two made it down to the greenhouses just in time for Herbology. Albus had saved them seats, but to Scorpius' horror, Alice Longbottom was also sitting near Albus. She grinned widely, and patted the empty seat next to her. Rose didn't notice Scorpius' distress, and took the seat furthest from Alice, leaving Scorpius wedged between Albus and Alice.

"Hey cutie." She said with a wink.

Scorpius could feel himself turning red. "Uh. Hi Alice." She giggled. Scorpius wanted to bash whatever he could over his head until he couldn't hear the giggling anymore.

"I saw that you had a rough morning. I have those days too. I mean some people never understand us sometimes, right? Your family sounds unpleasant. Except that one woman. Is she your mom? She seems nice. If you need someone to listen to what you have to say, I'm always here for you."

At that moment, Professor Longbottom, head of Gryffindor house entered the room. He didn't see his daughter's hand clutching Scorpius' arm, or a beet red Scorpius leaning as far as he could into an uncomfortable looking Albus. "Morning class!" He said cheerfully. "Groups of four for today's lesson. There are only so many mimbulus mimbletonia to go around. It's a very rare plant, and I'm quite fond of them."

Alice joined Scorpius, Albus and Rose as they examined the cactus looking plant. "I'm not that fond of Herbology like my father is," Alice said, leaning closer to Scorpius. "Do you like Herbology?" Albus looked at Rose and mimed gagging.

"I actually really like it," Scorpius said firmly. "I'd help my Mum in the gardens back home so I like to think I know a thing or two about plants. ALBUS! Don't touch-!"

Albus had tried to figure out something to do other than listen to Alice flirting and had poked one of the boils on the plant. Which then promptly exploded, covering them and the surrounding students in stinksap.

Half an hour later, the recently scrubbed students left class after they were assigned a foot long essay on why you shouldn't poke a mimbulus mimbletonia. Rose was sick of Albus grumbling that he didn't know what the stupid plant did and Alice's flirting as she was still hanging onto a blushing Scorpius, so she decided to bring up a different topic. "We should figure out who sent you that note Scorp."

"What note? The howler?" Alice asked curiously.

Scorpius ignored her, "Rose, I told you. My family gets threatened all the time. It's not a big deal."

"Your family gets threatened?"

"Rose might have a point Scorp. Someone is watching you from inside the castle, how else would they know where you were sorted so quickly?" Albus mused.

"There's someone watching you?"

"I could think of an entire house that would be watching me and sending threatening letters Al."

"Oh my goodness, Scorpy, you've been threatened?"

"Yes, that's true," Rose said slowly, "but the letter said 'don't disappoint'. It sounds like they- whoever they are- actually want you to be in Gryffindor."

"How could Scorp ever be disappointing?"

"Maybe Rose is right Scorp. We should see who wants you in Gryffindor and why they're watching." Albus said.

"How would we do that anyways?" Scorpius asked with a sigh.

"WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME?" The three stopped and looked at Alice who had let go of Scorpius and now stood with her hands on her hips. "I have no bloody idea what is going on, but if you just _tell me_ I could try to get some information out of Dad. He hears things from the teachers and I'm sure that they are gossiping about your sorting Scorp. Now will you please fill me in and I will help you." She looped her arm through Scorpius' again and the other three were just stunned enough to began filling her in on what had happened.

"She's pretty annoying," Rose murmured after the Hufflepuff girl left for Transfiguration and the Gryffindors headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts, "but you can't deny that she's got connections."

"I think she's got more than connections. She's got eyes for Scorpy." Al teased. "You'll be breaking hearts in a few years once you get a little taller, and I will join you." He swung his arm around Scorpius. "We will have the female population all over us with your looks and my name-"

Rose hexed him, and that was the end of that idea.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading! A huge thank you to Sophie. Westwood and arielbella for reviewing, you made my day! I'm so glad that you've liked the story and the characters so far, and I hope that the new characters live up to the rest. I was motivated enough today to crank out this chapter, it is the longest one yet! Sadly, I won't have access to my laptop for a few days, but I'll keep writing on my phone and hopefully get the next chapter up early next week. Hope this tides you over until then!**

**A LOT happens in this chapter. I don't know about you guys, but I needed some Rose and Scorpius time together. I just love those two to pieces. Al is just ridiculous. I feel like he's more of a mellowed down version of James. James may be a prankster, but Al manages to get into trouble without trying. Poor Al, I'll probably abuse him more later. The rest of the Weasleys needed to be introduced, so four chapters in and we've met most of the kids now. I don't think that I see many fics that have Percy's kids play a decent part in the story and I wanted to change that. Watch out for Lucy, she's going to stick around for a while. Then there are the OCs: Alice and Paul. Alice also falls into the characters I love to pieces category. I don't know why I love her so much, probably because she has the potential to screw up a lot of stuff which means more torturing Al and embarrassing Scorp! Aren't you guys lucky? Paul only briefly shows up, but he will be appearing later to cause more trouble because poor Scorp hasn't seen the end of his troubling days.**

**By the way, I wrote a quick random little one-shot from James' first year. You don't have to read it, but it explains what James and Fred did last April and how Al managed to figure it out and use it as blackmail. It's just a random little plot bunny that wouldn't go away and probably wouldn't properly be explained in this story. Read it if you want, it's short and just odd. I'm not really super happy with it, who knows, I might end up reworking it in here somehow.**

**Next time: Detention is served, and it is anything but normal. Alice reports back with some interesting news. Lucy and Rose fight and Al and Scorp fight. Somehow James fixes everything.**


	5. Chapter 5: Notes

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, then I wouldn't be looking for a job now would I?**

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Chapter 5: Notes

Defense Against the Dark Arts could have been bearable, if it wasn't that Gryffindor and Slytherin were paired together. Professor Garrott had been teaching the class for a record breaking three years and was known for being interesting, competent and lenient in class. Scorpius immediately liked him, Rose even more so when she discovered he was a Ravenclaw with a love of books and a thirst for knowledge. Albus was simply thrilled that he didn't believe in assigning homework on the first day of class.

Scorpius was enjoying the class, especially because Rose's hex caused Albus to squirm uncomfortably all class as he felt like he had to itch all over. The Slytherins had remained quiet and orderly through half of the class until Professor Garrott turned his back for a moment. There was a whispered spell, and then Scorpius felt a sharp pain against his cheek. Garrott turned around at Scorpius' muffled squeak of pain and narrowed his eyes, "Who did this?"

Rose had been immersed in the lesson and hadn't seen the spell being cast. Gently, she moved Scorpius' hand away from his cheek and gasped, "The Dark Mark!" Albus whipped around and frowned as he studied Scorpius' face. The Slytherins snickered, and when Scorpius found Bryce in the crowd the sea of faces the smug look on his face confirmed he had cast the spell.

"I'm being completely serious," Garrott continued, "I am pretty sure another Gryffindor didn't do this, so that leaves the house of Slytherin." He paced over towards the green clad students, "Bullying is not tolerated in my classroom, and with such a display of immature harassment I will use any method I can to discover who did this. That means Veritaserum, it means-" The bell rang signaling the end of class, "-Holding you after class. Gryffindors, you are dismissed to History of Magic. Mr. Malfoy, stay here so I can reverse that ridiculous spell. Don't you take one step towards that door Miss Moore!" A Slytherin girl slunk back to her seat wearing a murderous look.

Scorpius collected his things as the rest of the students left. Albus left without a word, but Rose gave him a smile and said, "I'll save you a seat." He nodded in acknowledgement before approaching Garrott.

The professor gently poked at his skin before he waved his wand, "Just a minor glamor charm paired with a stinging hex. Nothing a first year couldn't do. Now, who did it? I could start by taking fifty points from Slytherin, and another fifty if someone doesn't come forward-"

"He did it!" The girl who had tried to sneak out said shrilly, pointing at Bryce.

"That's what I thought. Thank you, Miss Moore. Everyone may leave except you Mr. Bryce."

Scorpius had almost made it through the door when Garrott realized he had disappeared, "Mr. Malfoy, where are you going?"

He groaned. "Class, sir."

"Come let Mr. Bryce apologize."

Scorpius felt like Bryce apologizing was about as likely as his grandfather putting on a dress and tap dancing while he pronounced his love for his family, but not wanting to disobey his teacher walked back over. He stared up at Bryce, who had his dark eyes narrowed as he sneered at him. "Apologize." Garrott commanded.

Bryce cocked one eyebrow and boldly said, "No."

"Excuse me, Mr. Bryce?"

"No, I won't apologize to the Mudblood-loving filth. He deserves to be branded like the scum he is."

Garrott looked like he was ready to murder him, "One hundred points for offensive language and disobeying a teacher, and detention until Christmas break. Mr. Malfoy, I'd leave now so I don't have a witness when I curse Mr. Byrce here."

"Yes, sir." Scorpius hurried out of the room and let the door bang shut behind him. He sprinted to History of Magic, determined to have one class where he would get there on time with no distractions, injuries, or bullies. He burst into the classroom and quickly found Rose waving him over to an empty seat.

"You got it off!" Rose said, sighing in relief, "Did you find out who did it?"

"Who do you think?" Scorpius snorted.

"I guess that was a dumb question," Rose said with a laugh.

"Rose asked a dumb question? Must be hanging around with someone who sucks your brains out of your head or something." Albus snapped.

Rose rounded on him, "What is your problem Albus? You've been acting funny since the end of Defense."

"Because I realized that we are supposed to be learning to defend ourselves against the dark arts, not hang around with the spawn of some of its biggest supporters."

Rose looked shocked and slowly turned red, but Scorpius stood up roughly before she could speak. "I'm so sorry that not all of us have Mr. Perfect Harry Freaking Potter as our fathers and instead have to deal with stupid people like you who think that who your family is counts more than what's on the inside. Merlin, I thought your flawless father would have taught you that." He grabbed his bag and stomped over to take a seat next to a mousy Ravenclaw girl who squeaked and scooted away after he sat down.

Professor Binns glided through the wall and immediately launched into a lecture about how History of Magic would expand their minds. Scorpius was too angry to pay attention and instead glared at Albus who was currently being smacked repeatedly by an angry Rose.

After a painfully long class, Professor Binns let them go. Scorpius was going to go take refuge somewhere far away from Albus Potter, but Rose had a different plan. Somehow she managed to grab both him and Albus by the ear and drag them to an unused classroom. "What is your problem Albus Severus Potter?" She screamed causing both boys to cringe.

"I told you already Rose! He's a Malfoy-"

"Thanks for pointing that out-"

"Shut up Malfoy!"

"Shut up both of you! Albus you knew he was a Malfoy, you told me to treat him like anyone else, remember you twat?"

"That's before I saw that branded on his face. Just because he managed to get into Gryffindor doesn't mean he's fine! How do we not know that he's not a part of those gits who still call for blood purity or whatever. I mean that note, it could mean don't disappoint those who are counting on him to infiltrate into our families."

Scorpius roughly shoved his sleeve up exposing his arm, "Nothing. I may be what you call Death Eater spawn, but I'm ex-Death Eater spawn. I am not a blood purist, I don't want to be. They are a bunch of nutters!"

"You could have it branded in somewhere else for all we know!"

"Are you asking me to prance around nude to make sure I'm on your side?"

At that moment, Alice burst into the empty classroom. Scorpius was sure that she would comment on the scene in front of her as Rose kept Albus from tearing his head off, but all she said was, "Scorpius is going to prance around nude?"

Albus made a strangled sound before marching out the door without saying another word. Rose sighed deeply, "What's up Alice?"

"I found some information for Scorp. I talked with my dad and hid in the teacher's lounge. Sorry to hear about what happened in Defense by the way. If I was there, I would have cursed him back with something much worse. I've heard there is a curse that makes your underpants shrink until they are uncomfortably tight, you should try that sometime."

Scorpius sat down heavily on a desk, "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." He said dryly.

"Anyways, my dad said that everyone is in an uproar about you being a Gryffindor. Slughorn is quite upset because he wanted to make sure- these aren't my words- that you are completely reformed. He's considering collecting you, Rose, and angry boy and adding you to the Slug Club. I'm already in as I'm a professor's daughter."

"We know." Rose said wearily.

"Anyways, Garrott seems happy, Flitwick wishes you were a Ravenclaw, Barrow couldn't care either way. Hagrid's tickled pink, he says that must frustrate your father which is more than he could ask for. Dad didn't really get to talk to the others but he says he's heard that the Muggle Studies teacher thinks you are full of it, you should watch out for him. Trelawney that old batty Divination teacher mumbled something about when the stars align some pigs can fly or some random nonsense. Professor Morgan, the Ancient Ruins teacher is thrilled that you are a Gryffindor. She said that perhaps with your family's history with Slytherin house you could bring some of the tension between the two houses down."

"Has she heard about Bryce?" Scorpius snorted, "I think I'm escalating the fighting."

Alice waved her hand dismissively, "But McGonagall agrees with her!"

Rose jumped up from her seat next to Scorpius, "'We are watching', it said we! It fits, its Morgan and McGonagall! You could help end the rivalry between the houses!"

Scorpius put his head in his hands, "What are they on? Do they honestly think I could do that when I'm the least trusted person in any of the houses? You know that Albus was the only boy that talks to me in our room? I have four other roommates and I get nothing from them. One of them ran into a wall when I asked him what his name was! If that is what is going on, then I hate to disappoint them."

Rose awkwardly patted his shoulder, "Well, you have seven years to not be disappointing then."

"Not helping Rose."

xXx

The two girls joined Scorpius in grabbing a quick bite from the kitchens before heading back to their common rooms. Scorpius was relieved to find that Albus wasn't in the common room, but the rest of his family was. James and Fred caught sight of him and yelled, "Scorpy!" before waving him over. He didn't feel much like spending time with the rowdy family, but found himself plunking into a seat between Fred and Lucy.

Lucy took his hand and squeezed it, "Sorry that Al's being a prick. He'll come around, he's just stubborn."

Fred had a different approach to cheering Scorpius up, "We've got an idea to get Al to stop being an idiot. As soon as he stops hiding we can fix this all up." Scorpius gave him a weak smile as he didn't trust Fred or James sporting their maniacal grins.

Rose walked over and frowned when she saw Lucy holding his hand, "Really Luce?"

"Rose, I swear I wasn't kidding when I talked to you last night-"

"It sure looks like you were."

Scorpius gently pulled his hand away, "I have no clue what is going on, but I am not a part of any of this crazy girl stuff."

Lucy dug her nails into his shoulder and kept him from moving, "I wasn't. Are you really just as thickheaded as your father and only see what you fear?"

Roxie and Fred whistled, "Cat fight!"

Scorpius was ready to run far away from the insanity when Albus came through the portrait hole. James saw his opportunity and grabbed Scorpius dragging him roughly over to Albus. Before either boy could protest, James pulled something silver from his pocket and snapped it onto Albus and Scorpius' wrists.

"What are you doing?" Albus cried holding up his wrist and examining the muggle handcuffs, "I would ask if this is some kind of joke, but you're James. Of course this is a joke!"

James smiled wickedly, "Ah, but this is a joke with a purpose Albie." He went over to Rose and Lucy, leaving the two boys to scowl at each other and tug at the cuffs.

Both girls had faces that matched their hair at this point. Lucy was screaming, "I may be a know-it-all, but I'm not a frizzy haired know-it-all freak!"

James cut off Rose's retort by grabbing the girls and snapping on a pair of handcuffs too. Both girls stopped yelling at the presentation of a problem. The examined the cuffs, "I don't think _alohomora_ will work." Lucy said, twisting her wrist to get a better look.

"There's a stronger unlocking charm isn't there?" Rose mused, "What was it...?"

James dragged the two handcuffed pairs together, "Now listen up you four, I think family and those who are bound to be adopted into the family," he said gesturing to Scorpius, "shouldn't fight. It's stupid. Albus, stop being a git. Rose and Lucy, go talk about your girl stuff or whatever."

"What's the point of these muggle handcuffs?" Albus said irritably.

"They aren't muggle handcuffs!" James said gleefully. "Fred nicked them from Uncle George. They're designed to stay on until the two parties come to an agreement. The best part is, you can't lie. If you lie while wearing them, one of the links vanishes, so you literally become closer together."

Scorpius frowned as he looked at the seven innocent links connecting him and Albus, "What happens if you run out of links?"

Fred hurried over, "Please don't. I stole them from Dad's 'potentially dangerous' drawer. Which means they work, but I don't want to know what happens when you abuse them."

Rose and Lucy sighed before heading up towards the girls' dorms. "Make up quick boys, we have detention in an hour!" Rose said, before climbing the stairs after an impatient Lucy.

Scorpius groaned as he had forgotten about detention. He looked over at Albus who looked sullenly back at him. "You know you are being stupid right Al?"

He ran his fingers through his hair awkwardly, messing it up, "Yeah."

"Then why are you being such a git?" Scorpius cried out in frustration.

"Because I don't trust you!" The cuffs glowed and suddenly one of the links vanished, dragging the their arms closer together. "Fine! I don't trust your family and I wonder how much they influence you."

Scorpius stared at him incredulously, "Haven't you heard my grandfather screaming at me? My grandmother doesn't really talk, my father is spineless, and my mother is the kindest person in the world and takes just as much crap as I do, maybe even more. I did mention I didn't want to be like them right? I'm Scorpius, not a Malfoy." A link vanished from the cuffs. "I meant that figuratively you stupid piece of magic!"

Albus weakly laughed. "Apparently it thinks you are a Malfoy." Scorpius gave him a dark look. "Look, I've been stupid. I should have not been such a git like the rest of the students here. Merlin knows you need a friend with your screwed up life."

"So we're cool?"

"We're cool."

The two boys stood awkwardly staring at the cuffs. "They're not coming off are they?" Scorpius said, "Of course we would get the faulty cuffs stuck to ourselves. Oi, JAMES!"

From across the room, James yelled back, "Give a proper apology my nitwit of a brother!"

Albus rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry Scorpius."

"It's fine." The cuffs glowed and fell from their arms, freeing them once more. The two smiled awkwardly before Rose suddenly appeared by their side.

"That took you long enough. Honestly, Lucy and I fixed things faster than you boys did. We're going to be late for detention if you don't hurry!" She dragged them out of the portrait hole and down the stairs to the entry hall. Due to Rose pushing them out of the common room, none of them noticed someone pick up the discarded cuffs and pocket them.

xXx

The three skidded into the hall at eight o'clock on the dot. The ancient caretaker Filch had been there in their parent's time, but he no longer had his faithful cat. Filch narrowed his eyes at the first years, "You are scrubbing the floors tonight, no magic." He thrust buckets and sponges into their arms. "Malfoy you have the fifth floor, Weasley the sixth and Potter the seventh. Come back here at eleven to return your supplies and then go straight back to bed. They nodded and began their trek back upstairs.

xXx

Albus reached the seventh floor and plunked his bucket down near the stairs. He had a sickening feeling that James would sneak out of Gryffindor tower and mess with him, but as he scrubbed, he slowly relaxed. James couldn't know he was just inches away from the portrait hole, Albus after all was the one with the Marauders' Map.

"You missed a spot," sniffed the Fat Lady. Albus rolled his eyes and scrubbed at the spot she gestured at. How long had it been anyways? Albus checked the watch that his dad had given to him on his eleventh birthday and angrily chucked his sponge back into the bucket when he saw it had only been half an hour.

"The one who chucks the sponge dies an early death Mr. Potter," came a quiet voice. Albus jumped and his hand flew to his wand. A woman with bright white hair and very large eyeglasses came from the shadows. "Harry Potter, I haven't seen you in class in sometime. I feared that what my inner eye had seen came true and you were no longer with us."

Albus shifted awkwardly, "Sorry, I'm Albus Potter. Harry's my dad." He felt slightly irritated at the mix up. He may have dark hair and green eyes, but he didn't wear glasses and he certainly didn't have a lightning bolt scar.

The woman twirled her arms gracefully, "Do not try to trick my inner eye. I know who you are." She studied him for a minute. "You would think that the Chosen One would have a happier life after You-Know-Who was defeated, but I see great danger in your future." She paused dramatically, "And death!"

Albus had heard stories about Professor Trelawney, the mostly insane, sometimes talented Divination professor from Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron. He honestly couldn't see how she could ever be talented. Albus thought she was a mental old bat and was already annoyed with her. "Right. I'll watch out for death then."

"You cannot watch for death Mr. Potter! It claims you when you are not looking." With a sweep of her robes, she vanished back into the shadows.

Albus stood, rooted to the spot as he tried to see where she had vanished until a water balloon was dropped over his head, drenching his robes and the recently scrubbed floor. "JAMES!"

xXx

Rose was using small circular motions with her sponge to clean the stones on the floor. It was more efficient that way and the repetitive motion allowed her to think. Today was absolutely _exhausting_. She had woken up early to finish her Potions essay, comforted Scorpius, got covered in stinksap, scolded Albus, spent at least two hours total devoting her thoughts to where Scorpius' mysterious note came from, fought with Lucy and now had spent the past hour scrubbing the floor. She sighed and dropped the sponge. It was only her third day at Hogwarts and Rose could feel herself already coming apart at the seams.

"Just get to the weekend," she mumbled reaching for the sponge again, but a scuffling sound made her stop short. Her father's Auror tips ran through her mind as she froze. _Scan for danger before striking_. She looked into the darkness and saw a faint outline of a person. _Always have your wand on hand_. She gripped her wand tightly as she removed it from her back pocket, eyes still on the shadow that had fallen still. _Don't strike until you've been attacked, but be prepared to dodge any unforgivables_.

"_Sectumsempra_!"

With reflexes honed from avoiding her older cousins and younger brother, Rose leapt out of the way of the bright flash of light. Her wand held ready as she yelled "_Protego_!" The next flash of light bounced off her shield and caused a lamp to explode. She couldn't get a good view of her attacker, but continued to defend herself. The second after he cast a spell and paused, Rose pointed her wand and yelled, "_Stupify_!" There was a sickening thud and a wand rolled out from the shadows. Shaking, Rose used her wand to illuminate the dark corner. She didn't know whether to be surprised or not that Paul Bryce's unconscious form lay sprawled across the floor. He had landed on his face and Rose couldn't help but feel a bit smug that it appeared that his nose had broken.

Running footsteps came down the hall and Professor Garrott came into view, "Rose? What's going on?" He caught sight of Bryce and rubbed his eyes, "Why am I not surprised?"

"He attacked me Professor." Rose said breathlessly.

Garrott gave a small smile, "I figured when I heard the yelling. Stupid boy for attacking the brightest witch in her class. Take ten points for Gryffindor even though I'm not sure if I should give out points for fighting." He pointed his wand at Bryce, "_Enervate_."

Bryce's eyes snapped open and he quickly assessed the scene. His wand lay too far for him to reach, and now he was up against a teacher and her. Rose saw his eyes go flat and he grumbled as he stood up. Garrott pocketed Bryce's wand, which Rose thought was a smart decision, and firmly took him by the arm. "Are you alright Rose?" He said softly.

"Yes Professor."

He smiled at her, "I'm going to take care of this mess here," he said gesturing to Bryce.

Rose smiled, "Thank you sir." He gave her a cheeky grin that reminded her of James and Fred before dragging an uncooperative Bryce away. She sighed, smoothed her hair and clothes and put her wand back in her pocket before picking up her sponge again. She closed her eyes for a minute and mentally stored the information away. The look in Bryce's eyes when he knew he had been defeated. The feeling of more powerful magic than she had attempted before racing through her veins. Electric would be the best description for that. The realization that she managed to break Bryce's nose.

Her eyes snapped open and flicked over to where Bryce had fallen. Sure enough, his blood had spilled across the stones. Rose threw up her hands and let the sponge fall from her grip as she realized that she had forgotten that the one cleaning up the blood would be her.

xXx

On the fifth floor, Scorpius was unaware that Albus was shouting at his brother, who eventually helped him clean up the mess while Rose scrubbed the floor that had been stained red while cringing in disgust. He had a perfectly calm night, and was nearly done cleaning his assigned corridor. He didn't hear Professor McGonagall's approach, and when she greeted him with a "Hello Mr. Malfoy." He jumped and nearly knocked over his bucket.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, "Hello Professor."

She studied him for a minute before commenting, "Serving detention I see."

He nodded nervously, his head bobbing up and down more than necessary. "I'm nearly done."

"I can see," she remarked crisply. "I'll let you get back to work."

She began to walk away, but Scorpius remembered Rose and Alice's theory about where the mysterious note came from. "Wait, Professor!" He stumbled to his feet, "I was wondering, if you knew by any chance if there's any specific reason that I'm in Gryffindor."

She looked at him cooly as he squirmed, "Mr. Malfoy, I may not be that well aquatinted with you yet, but I can tell that you are not like your family. You have some bravery in you, or maybe it's just stubbornness. The Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor because it saw something that maybe you or anyone else can't see yet. Good night Mr. Malfoy." Her shoes clicked as she walked away from him leaving him more confused than ever before.

He swiftly scrubbed the last remaining stones and leaned against a wall. He had a little less than an hour until he had to return to Filch, but he was so tired and that was a long time. Slowly, his eyes fell shut as he told himself he would rest for just a moment.

The next thing he knew, he was awakened by tapping against the glass window that he had fallen asleep nearby. He jumped awake as he realized that the sun had already risen and he'd spent the night sleeping on the floor. The tapping continued, and Scorpius caught sight of an owl rapping on the window. Gently, he pushed the glass open and the owl dropped a piece of parchment into his hands. The small scrap had been rolled up into a tiny scroll which still curled at the edges after he unrolled it.

_Be prepared. You must be ready soon._

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter down! It may seem fairly random right now, but there are some hidden gems that actually are important to the plot. I can't wait for you all to see where this leads. I decided to change POVs in the middle, I hope that you enjoyed hearing from Albus and Rose and didn't think it was too abrupt or weird. Rose surprisingly was really fun to write. I might include her POV in later chapters... Actually I've already have one chapter dedicated to her POV planned out, but it's not for a long while yet. **

**There's a TON of fighting in this chapter, and after this it should tone down a bit. I want to make sure that all the character's and their issues with each other get worked out before everything else in their lives goes crazy. Albus is an idiot at times, and so he and Scorpius need to work through that. I'm sure that you all could probably guess what Rose and Lucy were fighting about. (See category: Romance.) **

**A couple of characters were introduced, but my favorite has to be Trelawney. She's so insane, I love it! I just HAD to make sure that she was in this story because she's one of my favorites from the original books. Albus I'm sure has this amazing WTF face on while she's talking to him, I wish I could see it.**

**Anyways, the next chapter should be posted near the end of the week, but I am currently searching for a summer job so my life might get a bit busier, who knows. Once again, a shout out to the amazing Sophie. Westwood for her review, you're fantastic! Thank you to all who have favorited and alerted too, you guys make my day. Thanks for reading, and as usual, reviews are loved.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Beginning

**Disclaimer: It's mine! Oh wait, sorry I forgot, it's not and never will be.**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Beginning

_There is a reason you were placed in Gryffindor. We are watching. Don't disappoint._

_Be prepared. You must be ready soon._

_Bravery will be needed in your future._

_Keep your friends close, they are in just as much danger as you are._

_You're our only hope._

_The Malfoy name will no longer be disgraced if you accomplish your task._

Scorpius sighed and crumpled the last note that he had received which read, "_We don't always choose our fate, and yours has already been written_." He leaned back into his seat on the Hogwarts Express and lobbed the parchment into his open bag on the floor.

It was time for the Christmas holiday, and Scorpius was reluctantly on his way home. Albus had fallen asleep against the window, fogging it with his breath. Alice, Lucy and Rose sat conversing in whispers, trying not to wake him up. Scorpius had no desire to join in on the conversation. He had been sulking for the past week after he received a letter from his father stating that he must come home for the holidays instead of staying at the castle. His friends just thought he didn't want to face his family for the first time since becoming a Gryffindor, but they didn't realize how mentally and physically, he didn't think he could handle the two week break.

His head thumped against the back headrest of the seat and he closed his eyes. The past few months had been the best ones of his life. His classes weren't too difficult, his grades were second only to Rose who would throw a fit if he even did slightly better than she did. Most people still avoided him, but some had come to believe that he was alright. A pretty Ravenclaw girl had smiled at him in the halls just last week, and one of his roommates had finally introduced himself as Quentin Thames who went by Quint.

There was still the problem of Bryce. Scorpius hadn't ended up in the hospital wing anymore other than a Pepperup Potion that he needed after James and Albus used their dad's old invisibility cloak and map to sneak them to Hogsmead on Halloween night, but Bryce still was attacking him. Subtle stuff, a hex here, a snide comment there, or a cursed assignment. The latest was a cursed quill that only wrote swear words, but Scorpius wasn't sure if that was Bryce or James' idea of a joke. Bryce was easier to deal with now that most of his time was devoted to detention. After attacking Rose, he had detention every night. Albus and Scorpius both darkly admitted that if Rose hadn't performed the full-body bind on them when she told them, that the two of them would probably have had to take over his detentions after they killed him.

Scorpius cracked an eye open, and examined the two red heads and brunette who were holding an issue of _The Quibbler_ in their hands. The top of the magazine had flopped over their fingers so he could read, "_Which Famous First Year are You Most Like_?" Rose's eyes were narrowed as she read. Most likely searching for discrepancies in any descriptions. Scorpius noticed that she was biting her lip slightly, a habit of hers when she was nervous. He had often seen her like that while waiting for graded papers to come back. Lucy looked calm, it took a lot to ruffle the second year. Alice seemed to be having the most fun, giggling at random places as her dark eyes roamed the page.

Rose scowled for a moment and then released the magazine. She didn't see Scorpius watching her as she schooled her features, "I'm myself, of course." The girls nodded absentmindedly, still finishing their quiz not noticing that she was lying.

"I'm myself, too! A bit obvious if you ask me. I'm the only one not in Gryffindor so of course I don't care for honor or bravery or that rubbish like you lot. I just want to do what I want and have fun. Oh look, it even says that as my description. 'Alice Longbottom is a carefree spirit who just wants to have fun-"

Lucy held up her hand, "Stop babbling. We can read." Her light brown eyes flicked up and found Scorpius watching them. "I'm you Scorpius."

Rose frowned for a moment while Alice laughed, "I thought for sure you'd be a Rose! Pity I was wrong. I guess that's why I'm not in Ravenclaw." She picked up the magazine and shoved it into his hands. "You take it!"

His eyes quickly scanned the page. At the bottom were pictures of him, Rose, Albus, and Alice. The famous Hogwarts first years. He smirked at the picture of himself that seemed to be hiding. He went up to the first question: _What Hogwarts house do you identify with the most_? He rolled his eyes and picked Gryffindor. _What do you value most in your friends_?

After thirty questions, Scorpius unsurprisingly landed on himself. The little description read, You are Scorpius Malfoy. You wish to stand out from your family, and at times that means doing things that are unexpected. You are smart, but not bookish and are loyal to those who treat you right. Most people don't care to get to know you however as they find you standoffish and intimidating.

"What is this rubbish?" Scorpius said, "Who writes this?"

The three girls glared at him, "Luna Scamander, she's a good friend of our parents." Rose said.

Alice grinned, "She and my dad had a fling right after they got out of Hogwarts. I heard that-"

Lucy held up a hand, "Merlin Alice, we don't want to hear what Professor Longbottom did with Aunt Luna. Actually, we don't want to hear any of your gossip for the rest of the ride home. Do you think that you could manage that?"

"Only if you can stop being controlling, conceited and bossy."

Rose and Scorpius glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. Albus cracked open an eye, "The next person who wakes me up with pointless bickering will be hexed, got it?"

The two girls nodded, and Rose gave him a grateful look before picking up the discarded magazine. The girls went back to reading, while Scorpius went back to worrying. Did the entire wizarding world see him like the quiz depicted him as. What did it mean by standoffish and intimidating? That sounded like his family, not like himself right? He looked over Albus' head at the countryside rushing past the window, and fearfully realized that they had almost reached King's Cross Station.

Alice kicked Albus awake, and the four of them started to talk about the holidays that they would be spending together. Apparently there was a big Christmas dinner at a place called the Burrow where family and friends all gathered together. "You could always come mate," Albus said to Scorpius as they dragged their trunks off the train.

Scorpius hadn't mentioned who his friends were at Hogwarts, and he didn't see spending Christmas with the Weasleys and Potters as an option. He smiled, "I'll see." Albus didn't notice that it was a lie.

Right before he clambered off the train, Rose grabbed his arm and turned him around to face her. "Scorp, if you need anything, come to my place."

"Why do you think I'd need anything?" He said slowly.

Her blue eyes searched his face, "I know you Scorp. I can imagine how difficult this break is going to be for you. I'm only a floo away if you need me."

He took a shallow breath and steadied himself, "I'll be fine Rose, don't worry about me."

"Liar."

He gave her a forced cheeky grin, "I'm Scorpius Malfoy, I'm intimidating remember? I don't have anything to worry about."

She hugged him tightly, "Just be careful you lying prat." The five of them stepped off the train, and Scorpius watched them head over to a giant group of redheads. He thought he spotted the famous Golden Trio amongst the crowd, but he wasn't sure. His gaze slid away from the happy faces of his friends and he searched for his family. On the edge of the platform, he finally spotted one lone figure. His mother scanned the crowd, and broke into a smile when she saw him.

After he dropped his trunk at her feet, she gathered him up in a hug, "There's my Gryffindor."

He smiled, and the two of them picked up his trunk and dragged it out to the car. In the privacy of the car, Scorpius finally told his mother about everything that had happened at Hogwarts. She wouldn't tell anyone else, and there was no evidence like letters that she had to hide. He told her about Albus, Rose, Lucy and Alice. About Paul Bryce and his tricks. He talked about the Weasleys and their chaotic family. He told her about Gryffindor house and how happy he was to be there. All too soon, they were pulling into the drive for Malfoy Manor. He fell silent as he gazed up at the imposing house. He'd forgotten how drab it had looked.

His mother kissed his cheek, "I'd go straight to your room, you've had a long day."

"Yes Mum." It wasn't a punishment, Scorpius knew she was just trying to keep him away from his grandfather as long as possible. The two of them quietly entered the house, and his mother helped him get his trunk into his room.

"I'll bring you dinner later tonight after your father gets home. I'm hoping no one realized that you came home today."

She quietly shut his door, and Scorpius locked it. More for peace of mind than keeping anyone out. He knew that if anyone discovered that he was home that a locked door wouldn't keep him safe. The next few hours he dedicated to unpacking and writing his Herbology essay. It was his best subject and Rose had bet him a Galleon that she could do better on it. She didn't know that he had done better so far in that class than she had. He looked at the topic, You are stranded along the banks of the Amazon River, what plans could you find to help you survive and find your way to civilization? Scorpius smirked and dipped his quill into his ink. He'd take easy money from Rose any day.

xXx

A few hours later, Scorpius had moved onto his Charms essay after perfecting his Herbology paper. A soft knock at his door almost caused him to upset his ink, but he quickly steadied it and hurried over to unlock his door. Just as he had expected his mother stood with a tray of food for him. Before Scorpius could shut the door behind his mother, he noticed that there was another figure standing in the shadows. In the semidarkness, it appeared that the figure's hair was white. Scorpius gripped the doorframe and prepared himself to face his grandfather, but the figure stepped into the light and Scorpius pushed the door open further for his father to step into the room.

Scorpius hadn't heard much from his father since the day he left for Hogwarts. While his mother placed food on the table next to his bedside, father and son silently appraised each other. "So, Gryffindor." The older Malfoy drawled.

"Yes." The younger said matching his father's tone while crossing his arms. Scorpius silently dared his father to speak ill of his new house.

Scorpius was barely aware of his mother watching the scene nervously as the two stared each other down, "Merlin knows you have more spine than I ever did." His father finally said, "I didn't expect you to end up in Slytherin, but Gryffindor... It fits. We all should have seen it coming." He then clapped his son on the shoulder and exited the room.

His mother beamed as she hugged her son before departing, "That went well." She said before silently closing the door leaving Scorpius with a cooling bowl of soup. He plopped down on his bed, smoothing out the Slytherin green bedspread and tried not to think of the conversation that wouldn't go well.

xXx

The first time Scorpius and his grandfather crossed paths was four days later. Scorpius was sneaking down to the kitchen to get something to eat after midnight one night when he turned a corner and ran straight into the white haired imposing Malfoy. Scorpius felt like he couldn't breathe as he met his icy blue eyes. After a moment of silence, Lucius shoved Scorpius against the wall and swept past him. Scorpius closed his eyes and almost sobbed in relief before shakily making his way to the kitchen and celebrated the painless meeting with a chocolate bar.

Scorpius was smart however, and when he closed his eyes when he was back in bed, he realized the only reason that he hadn't been thrashed was that his grandfather wasn't carrying his cane that housed his wand.

It was a fragile peace that settled over the Malfoy household the next few days. Everyone seemed to wait in fear for the fight to occur. Family dinners were avoided, and Scorpius kept to his room. It wasn't until Christmas morning that the entire family was forced to gather together. Scorpius entered the sitting room where the Christmas tree had been set up with his mother and father flanking him. Boldly, he met the eyes of his grandfather after he took his customary seat between his parents on the couch. His grandfather sneered at him while his grandmother silently passed out the presents.

Scorpius' opened his grandparents' gift first. He tried to not show his annoyance that it ended up being a Slytherin house banner, and forced a smile and a "Thank you." Did they really think that he would be happy with that? Obviously they didn't, it was more of a show, a reminder that they did not approve of his house.

The gift from his parents made up for the other one when he lifted a Gryffindor house banner from the package. He bit back a laugh and said thank you to his parents. His mother didn't bother to hide her beam, and his father's eyes twinkled. The moment of happiness was ruined when his grandmother suddenly said, "Scorpius you have more presents." She pulled a few gifts from the tree and placed them in front of him.

"Who are they from?" His grandfather said dangerously.

Scorpius felt both his parents freeze. With a hard swallow, he replied, "My friends from school."

"Who's that?"

Scorpius steeled himself and gathered all of his Gryffindor courage to boldly say, "Albus Potter, Rose Weasley, Lucy Weasley and Alice Longbottom."

There was a sudden stillness about the room. Slowly, barely perceptible, his grandfather reached for his cane. Scorpius felt his mother shove him off the couch, and no words needed to be exchanged as he ran. There were shouts from the room as Scorpius ran towards his room. There was a crack, and suddenly his grandfather loomed above him. Scorpius didn't see the blow until he fell to the ground. He couldn't hear what his grandfather was screaming at him while his cane struck him. It was just pain and screams. Who was screaming? Was that him? Scorpius was having trouble processing what was going on until the blows stopped and he saw his father fighting off his grandfather. He couldn't hear anything and the world was spinning, a spell shot close by his head. Something wet dripped into his eye, and Scorpius slowly blinked it away. His mother's worried face appeared in front of his and she shoved two bags into his hands. She was mouthing something, but Scorpius couldn't understand. It wasn't until he somehow stood in front of a fireplace filled with glowing green flames that he understood what was going on.

He stepped into the flames and said the first name that came into his mind, "Rose Weasley's!" Malfoy Manor spun away from him vanishing from sight and then he found himself stumbling out of another fireplace. The room was dominated by a Christmas tree that four shocked people sat around. Scorpius saw Rose discard the gifts on her lap, jump up and run towards him before the world twisted and turned black.

xXx

"_Enervate_." Scorpius opened his eyes and found a brown haired witch standing above him. She had a kind face, Rose's face. The events at his house came back to him, and he gasped, trying to sit up. "No you don't." The witch that had to be Rose's mother said. "I'm pretty sure that I've fixed you up, but before you sit up, tell me if anything else hurts."

Scorpius twisted his body and wiggled his fingers and toes, "I think I feel good Mrs. Weasley."

She moved away, and helped Scorpius stand up. "Good. I did my best, but I'm not a healer. You'll have some bruises for a couple of days at least, but nothing is broken anymore."

"Thank you." She smiled and left.

It only took a second for Rose to appear and throw herself at Scorpius. "You stupid lying prat, I knew that you would get yourself hurt!"

Scorpius laughed darkly, "It wasn't my fault."

Rose shook his shoulders, "I know! Try to imagine how you looked though! It's Christmas and all of a sudden you floo in covered in blood and bruises. You just stood there for a second before you passed out. I- I- You- Scorpius!" Rose burst into tears.

Scorpius panicked for a second before awkwardly hugging her, "It's okay, I'm okay, you're okay."

Rose suddenly shoved him away, "Scorpius Malfoy, I thought you had died!" She screamed shrilly. "Don't you dare tell me everything is fine! What happened?"

Scorpius sat down heavily on the bed that he had woken up in, "I'm not really sure. It's a bit blurry in my mind." To the best of his ability, he described what had happened while Rose listened quietly. His grandfather's angry face kept appearing in his mind, threatening to take him back to that frightening moment.

After he finished, the two sat quietly. "Well, you can't go back home anytime soon. You'll come with us to the Burrow. We're spending the rest of break there. Albus, Alice and Lucy will be there. I'm sure that Mum won't let you leave and Dad if he puts up a fuss will end up agreeing with Mum." Rose pulled him up off the bed and led him downstairs.

Scorpius gazed around the house and was amazed with how warm it was. Family pictures hung on the walls, filled with smiling, waving redheads. He saw a picture with Albus, Rose and two smaller children hanging up right before he ran into a smaller boy. He stumbled as the two of them collided. "Hugo!" Rose cried, "What are you doing?"

"Same thing as you Rosie," The red haired boy straightened himself up and Scorpius was startled to see that he and Rose had the same exact eyes, "Spying on Mum and Dad. They are quite disturbed that a Malfoy showed up here half dead on Christmas."

Rose frowned, "Well, I'm pretty sure we are all disturbed. Scorp, this is my brother Hugo."

Hugo stuck out his hand, "Pleasure to meet you when you aren't covered in blood Scorpius."

Scorpius awkwardly shook the younger boy's hand, "It's nice to meet you too."

"I must be going now, I must finish packing up for the Burrow." Hugo excused himself and headed back up the stairs.

Scorpius turned to look at Rose, mouth agape. Rose laughed, "You think I'm smart, Hugo is a certified genius. He's going to solve world hunger someday I'll bet. He's only nine, but he's the brightest kid you'll ever meet." She pushed open a door and led him into the kitchen where her mum and dad stood glaring at each other.

As soon as the two children entered the room, the two adults rounded on them. "Rose, what is going on?" Her father asked, "Why is there a Malfoy in our house?"

"Dad, I've already told you that Scorpius is one of my best friends."

"I thought you were joking!" Ron said with his face turning even brighter red.

"No. He's been hurt and can't go home for a while." She turned to her mum, "Can he come with us to the Burrow? Albus invited him there too."

Hermione responded with, "Of course!" While Ron just scowled.

xXx

For someone who had never really been a part of a large family, Scorpius assimilated into the Weasley family and friends group very well. He met the Scamanders and their twin boys who were Hugo's age, awkwardly ran into Professor Longbottom, was hugged by Rose's gran, glimpsed Harry Potter, and was covered in glitter due to a prank that James, Fred, George, and Roxie had been working on all before he finally found Albus, Lucy and Alice.

He shook the glitter out of his hair before flopping onto the floor and joining in with their game of Exploding Snap. "Scorpy!" Alice cried out when she noticed that he had shown up.

Albus appraised him as he saw the bruises on his face, "You look terrible mate."

"Thanks Al." Scorpius said sarcastically.

Rose appeared also covered in glitter, "Honestly, I would hex James once we get back to school, except I know Uncle George is behind this."

Lucy snickered, "That's why if you just scream at them, they just leave you alone." Rose flung glitter at her.

A long haired wizard appeared next to the group, "Dinner's nearly ready!" There was a stampede as all the people in the area heard the announcement. Scorpius found himself jostled around and pushed into a chair by someone. Eventually the chaos stopped, and he found himself at a long table, wedged between Albus and Rose staring at more food than he'd ever seen outside of Hogwarts.

An elderly looking man stood up from the end of the table, "Tuck in everyone, Happy Christmas!"

Babbling exploded across the room as everyone reached for food. Scorpius reached for a dish but found someone across the table reaching for it too. He looked up and found himself staring face to face with himself. The other version of himself burst out laughing as Scorpius dropped the dish with a clank. Victorie slapped the other Scorpius on the arm, "Teddy, stop it. From what I've heard, the poor boy's had a rough day."

The other Scorpius' face suddenly changed, it became rounder and his hair became a bright teal. "Vic, I thought he needed a laugh. Hey Scorp, I'm Teddy Lupin. I'm like your second cousin or something." He waved his hand dismissively.

Scorpius still was recovering from the shock and responded with a weak, "Okay."

Other than meeting his cousin, dinner was relatively quiet by Weasley standards according to Rose. George only pulled one prank, no food was thrown, Percy didn't start any arguments, and no children cried. After the dessert was finished, Scorpius had a major headache and wanted to go to bed. He didn't know what to do, so still sat with the other children who were singing off key along to a Celestina Warbeck song. A hand rested on his shoulder, and he looked up into the face of Ginny Weasley. "Would you like to go to bed?" He nodded and she led him upstairs, "All the other boys will be in here, but they'll be quiet when they finally come upstairs." She gave him a quick hug, "Happy Christmas Scorpius."

Scorpius found the bags that his mother had given to him before sending him off were placed on a cot in a corner and was relieved to find a couple extra pairs of clothes and his wand were packed inside. Only moments later, he had changed and closed his eyes. Finally allowing himself to fall asleep feeling safer than he had all break.

It felt like minutes later when he was woken up by screaming. Most of the beds were empty, but he saw Albus sit bolt upright in the bed next to his. He glanced over at Scorpius, "Something's wrong!" Before bolting out of the room. Scorpius grabbed his wand out of habit, and looked outside. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, illuminating an owl that was hovering by the window. He roughly threw open the widow and claimed the letter before running down after Albus.

The kitchen was in absolute chaos. He saw Harry Potter hug his family before vanishing from sight with Ron Weasley. Percy Weasley came thundering down the stairs, narrowly missing Scorpius before he too disappeared. Adults were vanishing all over the place, grabbing food, saying good bye and not to wait up. The younger children were crying, and the remaining adults tried to calm them down. Scorpius thought he saw Hugo trying to reason with a distraught Lily Potter.

Finally he ran into Rose who looked pale and worried. "What's going on?" He cried over the din. Rose quietly handed him a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ where the headline screamed, "_Azkaban Breakout, All Prisoners Escaped_."

"All of them?" Scorpius' mouth went dry, "Every last one?"

"Every single one of them," Rose said fearfully, "No one knows what's going on."

The two sat side by side silently as Albus, then Lucy and finally Alice joined them. No one noticed the frightened children huddled together trying to not worry about their families or what would happen to them. The sun had risen much higher before Scorpius remembered the crumpled note clutched in his hand.

_It's time._

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**A/N: YAY! Here we go, more of the larger plot is revealed! But who is sending the letters and what does Scorpius have to do? Have you guessed yet? I sure hope you haven't, I think that I've done a good job hinting at what is going to happen without blowing the ending.**

**Okay, heads up, I have a major problem with Lucius Malfoy. I LOATHE him. Writing his character even makes me feel sick, so that's the last we see of him for a chapter or two. What do you think of him? Do you love to hate him or just want to see him die a slow painful death?**

**I was so excited to get this chapter out, that there might be some mistakes. I've read it over a few times, but I don't have a Beta and I'm just overly excited for you guys to read it.**

**Thanks for reading! Thanks to those who added this to their alerts, you make me smile! But no reviews...? Sad. I love hearing back on my writing, anything at all. Even if it's just saying that you love Scorpius and hate Lucius or that you hate Scorpius and love Lucius. I just like hearing from anyone who's reading. It really does motivate me to write faster. So let me know any theories you have, any POV that you'd like to hear from, any comments on the story so far. (I'd LOVE if someone could guess the letter sender's identity. That is seriously what I'm most excited to reveal and it's coming soon! Watch for chapter 8.)**

**Next time: What does the breakout mean for Hogwarts? One last letter is received. Exams are just around the corner for the students, but just because first year is ending doesn't mean this story is near over. Oh no, Scorpius' adventures are only just beginning.**


	7. Chapter 7: Fear

**Disclaimer: Why would you think this is mine?**

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Chapter 7: Fear

The worst kind of fear was the fear of what was to come Scorpius decided. Knowing that something was going to happen, but silently waiting in fear for whatever was to happen. Somehow, he was mixed up in this mess. The last note frightened him more than just the breakout alone would have. In some way, he was connected to the breakout, and he was just twelve, barely nearing the end of his first year in Hogwarts.

He'd spoken to his friends of course. Albus had looked concerned and brought up the idea of talking to his dad. Everyone shot that idea down quickly. Rose had started teaching him defensive spells. Alice made jokes. Lucy was the least amount of help, she seemed upset and grew distant.

The most difficult times for Scorpius were when he lay alone at night in his four poster bed in the Gryffindor dorm room, glassy eyes staring at nothing trying to figure out when something was going to happen. As so far nothing had happened. It had been five months. Five months since Rose had pushed the paper into his hands, five months since he'd last seen his family, five months since the last note.

Five months was a long time to be waiting for something to happen.

Scorpius had spent the rest of break at the Burrow. He and the other children were told to stay in groups and always have their wands with them. Rose even went as far to sleep with hers tucked under her pillow. Slowly, the adults returned. Scorpius one night stood outside the kitchen with James, Albus and Fred eavesdropping, the four of them barely breathing as the adults whispered. "There's nothing! All of them, hundreds of prisoners just vanished!" Harry said angrily.

"What about the dementors?" A woman's voice asked. It took Scorpius a minute to place her as Lucy's mum Audrey.

"All gone," Ron said, "Vanished without a trace too."

"Well couldn't someone just have offed the whole lot of them?" Charlie asked.

"No. According to Wizarding Law Section 4512, paragraph 81-"

"Percy, stop being an annoying git and just tell us what it says." George said.

"Well, you can't destroy dementors, they have to be somewhere. I'd reckon that they are with the escaped prisoners somehow."

Fred made a small noise of fear. "What was that?" Said Hermione.

The boys quickly scrambled back up to their room and shut the door behind them. "Dementors loose?" Fred said, "Might as well make the news of hundreds of the most dangerous criminals escaping even worse. How about we release creatures that suck your soul out onto the streets of London?"

No dementors or escaped prisoners ever showed up at the Burrow or anywhere else. The children all went back to Hogwarts after a quiet New Year. Life was almost too quiet. Scorpius' twelfth birthday passed quietly in mid March. The Weasleys, Potters, and one Malfoy elected to spend the Easter holiday at Hogwarts and that also passed quietly.

Now it was May.

It was about two weeks until exams, Rose and Lucy seemed to both be having nervous breakdowns. Albus one day jokingly said to Scorpius that it was a competition to see who could freak out the most. Personally, Scorpius couldn't see what all the fuss was about. He'd worked hard, and was pretty sure he could pass all of his subjects and probably do better than Rose in Herbology and Potions. Rose said that she needed to continue to study, and she wanted to do better than Scorpius in Herbology. Even five months later, she was still bitter about losing the Herbology essay bet.

Scorpius, Albus and Alice were sitting outside by the lake one Saturday afternoon enjoying the sunshine while Rose and Lucy studied indoors. "I could get used to this," Alice said, tucking her arms behind her head as she lay back in the grass, "Just laying outside all day."

Albus made a noise of agreement before flopping back by Alice. Scorpius shot them an annoyed look, "Well, I'm glad you two can relax."

Alice groaned and shut her eyes while Albus gave Scorpius an annoyed look, "Stop whining about it all the time. We all know that you are freaked out, but did it ever cross your mind that someone is just messing with you?"

Scorpius blinked in shock, "No."

"Well then, let's go with that answer and just bloody relax already!" Albus closed his eyes and tilted his face towards the sun.

The more that Scorpius thought about it, the more that Albus' theory made sense. Of course someone was just messing with him. No first year could possibly do anything about a bunch of escaped prisoners. Someone was probably just trying to get him to panic. Mission accomplished he thought wryly. It wasn't like the Malfoy family didn't have enemies, and Scorpius wasn't exactly beloved by all the students. He followed Albus and Alice's lead and lay back in the grass. Even if the notes did turn out to be real, he might as well relax now.

xXx

Exams were painless. Scorpius was right about not being worried about doing well. Grades were to be posted in a week, but he was sure he earned high marks on all of his exams. Rose and Lucy were both arguing until they were blue in the face over which one would have gotten better scores on their own exams one night in the common room. Albus turned to Scorpius, "Murders go to Azkaban right? So I shouldn't throttle the both of them? Why are they arguing anyways, they can't really compare scores on different tests."

Scorpius laughed, "Hey girls, I think I did better than both of you in Herbology."

The two rounded on him and began to loudly proclaim that there was no way that was possible. Albus put his head in his hands, "Scorp you've just landed yourself a place on my people I'd like to throttle list." Scorpius grinned back, and Albus stood up and shoved him off the chair, "Git. I'm going for a walk away from you lot. Have fun discussing which one of you will be considered the brightest witch of the age."

Before Albus could leave Scorpius called out, "Well that means I'm a shoo in for being the brightest wizard then!"

Albus turned around, his hand on the portrait, "No, the whole lot of you are a bunch of crazy witches. Bye." The picture slammed behind him.

James laughed as he walked over, "Albie, always the charmer. Now Luce, I need your help with something."

Lucy sighed in annoyance, "What?"

"I need to talk to Sammy Finnigan, the Ravenclaw."

"No James."

"Come on Lucy! It's important! You guys are friends, and you are clever enough to get me into the Ravenclaw common room."

"James."

"Lucy, please! It's really important!"

"What's so important?"

Rose plopped down on the couch next to Scorpius, "This is how this argument is going to go, Lucy will say no, James will complement her, Lucy will still say no, and then he will promise her something. That will then get her to help him out."

He evaded her question, "Lucy, you are so smart that you're the only one who can help me!"

"I said no James!"

"Five Galleons."

Rose gave a low whistle, "He really wants to do this then."

"How many times do I have to say no?"

"Five Galleons and Uncle George's next new product."

"Five Galleons and I get to pick the product."

James looked relieved, "Deal. Come on then!" They disappeared through the portrait hole.

Rose curled up on the couch, "Peace and quiet at last."

"Weren't you a part of the noise and arguing Rosie?" Scorpius asked with a chuckle.

"Luce started it. Since it will probably be just the two of us for a while, fancy a game of chess?"

"Only as long as I trounce you."

Nearly an hour later, Rose fell backwards in her seat in a huff, "I can't believe you beat me! Only Hugo and Dad beat me!"

Scorpius lazily grinned, "I told you I would trounce you."

"I can't wait for Hugo to get here. I'm going to make you two play and he will destroy you."

He gave her a cocky smile before realizing that Albus still wasn't back, "Don't you think that Al's been gone awhile?"

Rose shrugged, "I'm sure he's fine, but we could go snitch the Map from his trunk and spy on him."

"Snitching sounds great." The two climbed the staircase and entered the empty dormitory. Mostly everyone was out celebrating the end of exams. Rose dug through Albus' things making small noises of disgust whenever she found something smelly before pulling the worn piece of parchment out.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Ink danced across the page, and the two of them put their heads together scanning for Albus. "Look!" Rose said, jabbing her finger onto the parchment, "He's just down the corridor. Not moving. He couldn't of forgotten the password, it's 'Weasley!'" She leapt up, tucking the Map into her pocket and running out the door. Scorpius followed behind her as she scrambled out of the portrait hole and down towards where Albus was supposed to be.

They found him passed out against a column, mostly hidden in shadows. Rose gave a cry of fright before pointing her wand at him. "Oh what's the spell? En... _Enervate_!"

Albus stirred and sat upright, "Scorp, Rose!" He stumbled unsteadily to his feet and Rose caught him before he could fall. "I was wrong," Albus said, holding out a piece of parchment, "I have no idea who it was who attacked me, but I know I was wrong. Something is going on Scorp."

Scorpius took the small piece of paper and unrolled it.

_Scorpius Malfoy, you are destined to be the end to the chaos that is beginning. Come to the astronomy tower tonight at midnight and all will be revealed._

Rose sucked in a deep breath, "You can't go!"

"Don't be daft," Scorpius snapped, "I have to go. This person has been messing with me all year, I need some answers."

"I'm with Rose on this one mate. This person is nuts, they attacked me! It's not safe."

Scorpius looked at his two best friends who both had looks of deep concern, "Come with me then. I _need_ to go."

The cousins exchanged a glance before Albus finally, quietly said, "I'll go with you."

"I'll come too. Someone's got to make sure you don't get yourselves killed." Rose said with a sigh.

"I'll owl Alice and let her know too and I'm sure Lucy will come. The five of us. That should be more safe." Albus said softly. "I'm going to the Owlery."

"I'm coming with you," Rose said, "You've just been attacked, I'm not letting you leave my sight!"

Scorpius watched them leave, bickering over whether or not Albus was still shaken up from the attack. The smooth parchment felt good to crumple as Scorpius shoved the final note into his pocket. Answers. Hadn't that been what he had wanted the past five months? Even if this was what he wanted, Scorpius felt more fearful than he ever had in his entire life.

After all, the worst kind of fear is the fear of what is to come.

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**A/N: Are you ready? Next chapter is THE chapter! The one that I've been the most excited about to post since I began this story. (The one I've been most excited about posting for Scorp's first year that is.) The first year story arc is wrapping up. Just two more chapters and then onwards to year two!**

**This is your last chance, have you figured out the letter writer's identity? I'll give you one hint: they have been mentioned or made an appearance in the story so far. I've subtlety given other clues pointing to who it is, but have you been paying attention...?**

**A HUGE thank you to my reviewer dafna, I don't think that I kept you waiting too long! Sadly, the next chapter is HUGE and I can only write at night this weekend, so look for the big reveal to be posted Sunday or Monday.**

**As always, thanks for reading, you are all fantastic and reviews are loved!**

**Next Chapter: The identity of the letter writer is revealed. There is much panicking and rule breaking.**

**I'll give you one last detail about next chapter, right now it is tentatively titled The Silencing. But what does that mean? You'll have to wait to find out!**


	8. Chapter 8: The Silencing

**Disclaimer: If it was mine, then I would most likely not be a muggle.**

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Chapter 8: The Silencing

The castle after curfew was silent. Scorpius had snuck out with Albus before to explore, but then there was the promise of adventure. Now there was the promise of information that Scorpius wasn't sure that he was ready for.

The four Gryffindors stood in the shadows at the base of the astronomy tower waiting for Alice. Albus had the Marauders' Map unfolded and silently watched her journey from the Hufflepuff common room. Scorpius paced along the wall oblivious to Lucy's eyes following him while Rose stood at the base of the stairs that led up to the tower, wand ready. No one said a word. All the fears and concerns that could have been said had already been covered in the hours leading up to the midnight meeting.

A shadow appeared at the end of the hall, and Rose stiffened as she prepared to strike, but just Alice appeared and she slowly relaxed again. The group sat in silence until Albus who had switched to consulting his watch after Alice's arrival said, "It's midnight."

Scorpius reacted first to the statement. Carefully he drew his wand, and passed his friends before beginning to climb the creaking stairs. Rose followed close behind him as they ascended the spiral staircase. He paused in front the door and turned back to give a frightened glance at his friends.

Before he could touch the door, there came a shout of pain from the other side. Suddenly spurred on by the sound, Scorpius burst into the room. A dark shadow leapt from the window and vanished into the night, leaving the broken, bleeding body of Professor Trelawney behind in the moonlight.

Scorpius didn't know the Divination professor that well. He had listened to Albus recount his encounter with her and had seen her once wandering the halls, but still felt the shock of seeing her with her limbs splayed out in odd angles across the floor. Rose reacted first, with a cry she flew over to the professor and placed her fingers to her bloodied neck to check for a pulse.

No one had been expecting Trelawney to turn her head and give a gasp, "Malfoy-"

Scorpius quickly crossed over to her side, "I'm here Professor."

Her eyes fluttered, "It was me... Go to Department... Department of Mysteries now. Find your prophecy. Hope... Don't fail..." She gasped one last time and focused her large glassy eyes on him before uttering her final words, "Save us."

The room fell silent as she went still. Rose gave a muffled sob and gently removed her hands from Professor Trelawney's neck and gave Alice a hug. Scorpius felt like he was going to be sick. What information did she have that would lead to her death? It seemed as if this was his fault. The information was about him after all. "It's my fault." He whispered hoarsely.

Albus shook his head, "It's not. This is something bigger than any of us."

There was a moment of silence before Lucy spoke, "We need to go to the Department of Mysteries."

"Are you mental?" Alice whispered in a hush.

"Luce's right." Albus said in a shaky voice, "We need to go there."

"What we need to do is get an adult," Rose said thickly, "and have someone put Professor Trelawney to rest."

"She said we need to go now." Scorpius said quietly, "Now. There's something out there that she died for, and wants me to find. I want to honor her last request."

Rose paled, "You do know the story of Uncle Harry and his prophecy right? There was a prophecy made about him and Voldemort. It led to the death of his parents, actually it led to the death of more than just his parents. It seems this prophecy had lead to the death," she hiccuped and closed her eyes as she took a shaky breath before plowing on, "The death of Professor Trelawney. Prophecies are dangerous, they should just be forgotten and ignored. Especially when it's involving something much more complex than any of us can understand."

Everyone looked at Alice who still hadn't spoken. Her eyes never left Professor Trelawney's face as she answered, "We need to go."

"Fine," Rose said exasperatedly, "I don't agree with the rest of you, but I know when I'm outvoted. But how are we supposed to make it to the Department of Mysteries anyways?"

"I know where it is," Albus said, "Dad showed me the door once."

"And I know how to get to the Ministry," Lucy said confidently.

"You can get us from Hogwarts into the Ministry?" Scorpius said in surprise.

Lucy started down the stairs, "Don't underestimate me." The rest of them followed her lead.

Before shutting the door behind him, Scorpius looked one last time at the frightening sight before him. He tried to wrap his mind around what had happened, but all he could do was choke out, "I'm sorry," which felt inadequate. She needed to be put to rest, not abandoned at the top of the Astronomy tower. She had died while protecting this information, and Scorpius wanted to discover it. Whatever was going on, it was much bigger than just a few Hogwarts students and perhaps he could make a difference.

The five of them rushed down the stairs, Albus taking over the lead with the Marauders' Map in his hands watching for any patrolling teachers or prefects. "Head out towards the Quidditch Pitch," Lucy whispered. After a painfully long journey through the castle, they managed to sneak onto the moonlit grounds where Lucy began leading again. "Do you all know how to ride brooms?"

Scorpius, Rose and Albus had been raised in Quidditch playing families, so each of them nodded yes. Alice however frowned and said, "Not that well. I need to practice more before playing Quidditch or anything like that."

Lucy stopped in front of the broom shed where most of the brooms were kept and unlocked it, "You are going to need to learn quickly then." She strode over to the Gryffindor section and pulled her own, James, Fred, Louis, and Roxie's brooms off the wall.

Rose gasped, "Luce, what are you doing?"

Lucy walked back and shoved a broom into her hands, "They owe me." The rest of the group gaped at her before mechanically getting on their borrowed brooms.

Albus took a deep breath, "We are so dead for doing this." Before kicking off towards the Ministry. Scorpius didn't look back as they flew away. He focused on Alice who was flying ahead of him with a tight grip on her broom and tried not to think about what had happened tonight, the freezing cold air, or what could happen during the rest of the night.

Rose pulled up beside him, "We need to fly higher!" She shouted, "We can't be seen!"

Nodding swiftly, Scorpius yanked on his broom to bring it closer to the clouds watching the rest as they did the same. The ride seemed to take forever especially while Scorpius wouldn't allow himself to think about anything other than flying, but soon enough, Albus was guiding them to land in a deserted area away from Muggle eyes.

They tumbled off their brooms, and Lucy shoved them behind a dumpster. Alice marched over to Albus and poked him in the chest, "You are going to give me riding lessons Albus Potter because you looked like you were actually having fun and I was terrified! Got it?" Albus nodded nervously.

They slunk their way through the streets, pausing right before the visitor's entrance to the Ministry. "Things are different now from when Mum and Dad came here their fifth year," Rose whispered, still paler than usual, "There are more guards posted at night. We probably won't be able to make it all together, if we can make it in at all."

"We split up then," Lucy grumbled, "Obviously."

Scorpius wasn't too fond of that idea, but quietly added, "Just as long as I can reach the prophecy." They nodded and punched themselves in as visitors after they climbed into the old telephone box. None of them wore their badges that were printed with their name and _Looking for Answers_.

The moment that he glimpsed the entryway to the Ministry, Scorpius knew they were in big trouble. Two burly guards had jerked awake at their arrival and now were quickly making their way towards them. Albus suddenly grabbed Scorpius' arm, "Listen, go to the lift and get to the bottom floor, Rose can take you the entrance of the Department and then you're on your own." Scorpius nodded and he and the girls took off running as Albus yelled, "Hey! I'm Albus Potter! Harry Potter's son. Harry Freakin' Potter's son, and I have something to say!"

The guards weren't sure what to do with Albus, so one of them stayed behind while another chased after the rest. "Alice, you stay behind and take care of the other guard." Rose said breathlessly as they ran.

"I can't!" She cried back, "I have to be with Scorpius to help him find the prophecy." Rose gave her a questioning look. "Just trust me!" Alice shrieked.

"Fine, Luce-"

Lucy groaned, "It's always me getting left behind!" Before she turned around to face the guard. As she expected, the guard kept racing past her as he chased the still running first years, but Lucy was cunning enough to come up with a plan. She continued to run behind him and when she was close enough she launched her small frame and latching on tightly, covering his eyes while she was at it. The guard gave a shout as he wasn't expecting the sudden weight and veered into a wall as he tried to shake of Lucy.

The three remaining friends called for the lift and jumped in as quick as they could, all of them slammed their fingers onto the bottom floor's button at the same time. Scorpius stared silently at the wall as they waited for the lift to stop. He was annoyed with Alice's fidgeting and Rose's bouncing, but he supposed that was their way of dealing with their nerves. The lift dinged and opened to show a dark hallway. The three of them rushed down towards it, only to have Rose who reached it first not be able to open the door. "It's locked! _Alohomora_!"

"Did you think that would work?" Scorpius cried exasperatedly, "And now you've done underage magic outside of school. Brilliant Rose."

Alice smacked him upside the head, "Scorpius, be nice. Being stressed doesn't mean you act like a git. Now, there will be a guard here soon, Scorp hide with me. Rose tell him we got inside, and when the guard unlocks it, take him down so we can run in."

"Will that even work-?" Scorpius found his question was cut off by Alice unceremoniously shoving him down an adjoining hallway where they clearly could hear running footsteps approaching Rose.

"Where are the rest of you?" The guard said gruffly. Scorpius snuck a peak around the corner and saw the guard Lucy had distracted standing in front of Rose.

"They got inside," Rose said, pointing towards the door. To anyone who knew Rose, they would have instantly knew she was lying, but the guard made a complex motion with his wand and threw open the door. Once he turned his back to Rose, she closed her eyes and yelled, "_Stupify_!"

The guard thudded to the ground as Alice and Scorpius leapt from their hiding place and into the room. "Stay." Alice said pointing to Rose.

"But-"

"Stay. Trust me." Again with the trusting, Scorpius thought. He wasn't sure what Alice was up to. The two remaining first years entered a circular room surrounded by doors, and Alice slammed the door shut in Rose's upset face.

"Alice, what has gotten into you?" Scorpius snapped, "That guard shouldn't have access to the Department of Mysteries, it's called a Mystery for a reason right? Why are you telling everyone what to do?"

She turned to him, her eyes flashing in the semidarkness, "I need quiet, I've got to concentrate for a second. I'll explain sometime, just understand that I _can't_ right now."

Scorpius opened his mouth to reply that he thought she could explain, and better do so or stop being so annoyingly un-Alice like, but then the doors around the room began to spin. Scorpius tried to see which one they came through with no luck. Once the doors stopped, he was completely confused, but Alice grabbed his hand and dragged him to a door on their left and flung it open.

They found themselves standing in a huge room. Shelves covered the floor, but most of them were empty. "Most prophecies were smashed at the beginning of the Second Wizarding War," Alice filled in with her voice echoing. She led him over to a couple of shelves that were still full.

"They're organized by year and name," Scorpius pointed out after studying the labeled prophecies for a minute.

"Yes, so that means..." Alice stopped and pointed at a small ball where in small writing it was labeled in writing that hadn't faded yet: SCORPIUS MALFOY AND THE WIZARDING WORLD.

With shaking hands, he reached out and grabbed the small ball turning it over and marveling at the smoothness of the material. "Open it." Alice whispered.

Scorpius took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he pried the ball apart. It opened across the middle as if it had just been held together by a magnet, and a shadowy figure of Professor Trelawney appeared and began to speak in a frightening, powerful voice "The lion son of snakes shall need to rise to redeem the end of the wizarding world before he reaches his second decade of life. If he succeeds, then he must repair the damage that he and his family has done. To fail will be the end of lives and of magic."

There was an echoing silence after the prophecy had finished. Scorpius swallowed and looked up at Alice who looked just as frightened. He was frightened about the entire prophecy, but the end kept ringing in his ears, "The end of _magic_? How is that possible?" He said as he stared down at the little ball in his hands. "How could magic end?"

There was a sharp crash before Alice could respond, and a group of people appeared at the end of the hallway. "Alice, Scorpius what are you doing?" Scorpius was startled, and the smooth ball fell from his fingertips and smashed at Professor Longbottom's shout. Before he could even comprehend the fact that he had just broken the prophecy that they had come so far for, the row had filled with people. Scorpius saw Alice hug her dad who reached them first. Then came Albus and Rose with their parents. Lucy walked alone slightly behind them. More official looking adults filled in and began questioning what was going on. Scorpius thought he even saw the Minister of Magic between the crushing throng of people.

No one bothered to talk to him until Harry Potter himself walked over. Scorpius stared up at the man that his father had tormented and later been saved by. He'd seen him before from afar, but now he could see that he and Albus had the same messy hair and bright green eyes, "Scorpius, I'm going to need to hear about what happened tonight and why it happened," he said softly.

Albus had untangled himself from his mother who was scolding him to come over, "I'd talk to my dad Scorp. If anyone knows anything about weird prophecy stuff it would be him." Harry gave a wry smile and gestured for both boys to follow him.

On their way out, Scorpius caught Lucy's eye where she still stood by herself. Rose, Albus and Alice all had parents that came for them, but like him, Lucy was alone. Her Aunts and Uncles hugged her, but were mostly concerned about their own children. They didn't notice that she was alone, and judging by the sad smirk on her face, didn't like being alone but had accepted it.

The group left led by Harry, who was still keeping an eye on a very pale Scorpius, and the Minister of Magic who was confused as to how a few early level Hogwarts students managed to get into the Department of Mysteries. He kept announcing that security would be increased, especially with the criminals on the loose.

Scorpius heard over the noise Professor Longbottom ask Alice, "How did you get in anyways?"

She simply replied, "Magic." She was the last one to leave the room, and before she closed the door took the prophecy that she had slipped into her pocket and threw it and watched it smash.

A ghostly figure rose from the remains and began to speak, "A girl shall be gifted-" Alice shut the door with a snap. There were somethings that just didn't need to be known by anyone.

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**A/N: There you go! We have the main plot line of year one nearly wrapped up, which sets up for the larger storyline to play out. I cut it a bit shorter than I thought it would be, but I think it works.**

**Now let me explain a couple of things: Trelawney had been writing to Scorpius all year, she didn't mean to scare him half to death, but when is she known for being nice when it comes to doom and gloom? The prophecy idea was not my first idea of how Scorpius finds out that he has a larger part to play in the world, but it was the only one that works for where he is currently at in his life. (Originally his family was more involved, but that needs to happen during his second year when he gets a little more mature.) Alice and Lucy take a bit more of precedence in this chapter for a reason, and their actions will be explained in time. What did you think? Is it okay? Anything that you thought was confusing? (If there is, point it out, it might have intentionally been left unclear for plot purposes later, but it might just be that I messed up.)**

**Now thank you to my reviewers dafna and Rafolution!**  
**Dafna: Did I end up surprising you?**  
**Rafolution: Thank you so much for your review! To answer you: **  
**1. I looked it up and you are right. That detail slipped my mind, thank you for pointing that out! I'll fix the grading system in the previous chapters after I post the last first year chapter. **  
**2 and 4 are both related to the future plot. You are right, Lucius would (and should) be in BIG trouble and demetors shouldn't be guarding Azkaban, but something has been going on that Scorpius isn't aware of yet. I'll just say for now that Lucius has been busy during the past 19 years... **  
**3. Lucy is a second year. Did I accidentally say that she is a first year somewhere? I'll fix that if it does, but she does hang out with all first years despite her year. I think that Lucy is overlooked at times and can be a bit abrasive which did not make for a good first year for her. When she met Scorpius, she saw that they had some common similarities and began hanging out with him, and the rest just fell into place. Sorry for the mini Lucy information overload, I love her character and her backstory is actually one that I've thought a lot about. **  
**Your review wasn't long at all by the way, I loved hearing back on what you thought! Keep it up!**

**Thank you all for reading, you are all fantastic and reviews are always loved!**

**Next Chapter: Scorpius' first year ends and he tries to figure out what exactly he has to do to save the wizarding world while fighting his doubts that he can actually do so. Albus proves once again that he might have some Slytherin traits.**


	9. Chapter 9: Leaving

**Disclaimer: I hope you haven't forgotten that this isn't mine. I haven't...**

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Chapter 9: Leaving

Albus and Rose had thrown fits when Harry told them they couldn't be in the room when he talked to Scorpius. Albus had retreated sulkily while the events of the night had caught up to Rose who had begun to cry, ran off to find her parents again. Scorpius stood awkwardly in the middle of Harry's office as he dismissed his son and niece. In the past few hours he'd seen a professor die, managed to sneak into the Ministry, and heard a prophecy about himself. Speaking to the great Harry Potter didn't seem so bad anymore.

Harry took a seat behind his desk, "Please sit down Scorpius."

Scorpius fell into one of the chairs and nervously looked at him, "Am I in trouble?"

Harry laughed, "I don't think so. With everything that happened tonight, I don't think it will be difficult to convince everyone that you were under considerable stress and simply acted." He paused, "Besides, you lot acted like I did when I was in school."

Scorpius gave a weak smile before he suddenly remembered, "Mr. Potter, Professor Trelawney she's... she-"

"Professor Trelawney has been moved. Scorpius, you need to tell me what happened tonight. How did she die?"

The entire story came tumbling out. Scorpius told about the mysterious notes, the final one leading them to discover Trelawney while a dark shadow leapt from the window. "It wasn't any of us that killed her Mr. Potter, I promise." Scorpius suddenly said as he saw the grave expression on Harry's face.

"I never thought you did. It was Dark Magic that killed Professor Trelawney. The shadow you saw would most likely be the murderer, but the fact that someone has gotten into Hogwarts is very concerning."

Scorpius nodded, "I don't understand why she had to die, I found the prophecy that she made about me anyways."

Harry leaned forward, "Another prophecy? Really, those bloody things should be made illegal..."

"You sound like Rose sir," Scorpius said with a smile.

"Hermione's influence no doubt. What did it say? Did you hear it and where is it now?"

"I heard it and then it smashed because of course I would drop something that important. It said that I have to save the wizarding world before I turn twenty and that if I didn't then magic would end, but that's not possible. Magic isn't something that could end. Is it?"

Harry looked at the young boy in front of him, "The two of us have a lot in common don't we? Much to live up to at a young age." He sighed and rubbed his face. Scorpius suddenly noticed how tired Harry looked.

"Mr. Potter, are you okay?"

"As good as I can be at the moment at nearly five in the morning," he said with a tired grin. "Scorpius, I wish I could tell you that everything will turn out fine. I know your friends will stick by you no matter what happens just as mine did."

"But do you know what it means? The end of magic?"

"I don't. But if I ever do find out, I'll tell you. I didn't exactly like when the adults kept things from me." He grinned, "Now I should probably get you lot back to school. Grades should be posted today, and I'm sure Rose has gone mental waiting." The two of them stood up and Harry led them out of the room.

xXx

All of them were aware that the world wasn't a perfect place as they had grown up on the stories of darker times, but now they had seen it first hand. Scorpius had watched his friends closely as he explained what he'd discovered and the conversation with Harry, all of them seemed to be just as nervous as he was except Lucy still seemed to be in a sulky mood.

A week later they were the train heading towards their families, everyone seemed to be a bit happier. Albus had been acting tough, claiming that he was ready to take on anything, but faced with the prospect of going home, there was a glint in his eyes that Scorpius hadn't seen since the incident. Rose had been upset for a while. Whenever Scorpius tried to talk to her about it, she would just say that she was upset that she hadn't done as well as her mum had on her Charms final exam. Now she was laughing with Alice, who was also back to her bubbling self. Lucy had been difficult to find over the last week. "I have other friends you know," she had said with her hands on her hips when Albus asked where she had been one night.

"Actually, I didn't know that," Albus had said honestly. Lucy had stomped off and not been seen since. She hadn't come into their compartment, so Scorpius assumed that perhaps she had found some less dangerous friends.

"-And then Roxie declared a summer prank war on Fred and James," Rose said to Alice as Scorpius started to listen into their conversation. "You know what happened during the last prank war? I wasn't even involved and I ended up being turned into a rat. A _rat_! I thought that they had learned from last time not to start these silly prank wars!"

"Well," Albus said slowly, "I might have made sure that they wouldn't touch us."

"Al, what did you do?" Rose asked curiously.

The compartment door flew open with a bang, where two alien looking creatures stood. Both of them had arms sticking out of their heads, multiple eyes and had every color of the rainbow dancing across their skin. "Albus Severus Potter, what did you do to us?" Said one of the creatures in James' voice.

"Not that it isn't great, but can you please change us back, we are oozing slime!" The other one with Fred's voice said.

Albus laughed, "It will wear off only after your mum and dad see you. Enjoy the train ride home!" The two left grumbling, and Scorpius saw that on their backs _Love Al and Rosie_ had been written in glittering letters.

Rose turned back to Albus, "Have I ever told you that you are my idol?"

"I wouldn't mind hearing it again." The four first years laughed and settled in for the long ride back.

Much too soon the train was pulling into the station, and good byes were said. Alice hugged Scorpius first, "You better write me! Actually, try and visit me because I am sure that you will be going simply crazy without me. I know you will miss me," she gave a wink and Scorpius just laughed.

Albus said good bye quickly, "I've got to run, Mum got us tickets to see a Harpies game later. But mate, seriously come visit and get away from all the snakes."

"I'll try, I might have to sneak out," Scorpius said.

"Even better." He said with a grin.

Then Rose was standing in front of him, "Don't try and worry too much Scorp."

"Why would you think that I would be worrying?"

Rose gave him a stern look, "Because I know you. I'm sure that you are trying to not think about the whole prophecy situation, and just don't. Nothing will probably happen tomorrow that will change everyone's life, so don't freak out on me Scorp."

"I'm not going to freak out-"

"Oh just stop lying," she hugged him, "and this time, stay safe and don't piss anyone off."

"Like that's going to happen," he said as he hugged her and the two friends parted. He walked across the crowded station away from his friends. Lucy passed him, and gave him a small nod as she followed behind her sister who had just graduated. Another problem to worry about, Scorpius thought bitterly, don't just worry about saving the wizarding world or what's going to happen this summer, worry about Lucy too.

His mother was waiting for him again, and Scorpius strode towards her with his head held high. He wouldn't worry about anything right then. Nothing would happen anytime soon just as Rose said.

Right?

**End of Year One**

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**A/N: We have finally reached the end of Scorpius' first year! The beginning of his second year will be posted around the end of this week. I hope that you have enjoyed the ride so far, and will stick around to see what happens next!**

**Thanks to dafna and Rafolution for their reviews and to those who added this to their favorites list!  
dafna: I'm glad that I surprised you! Sorry that you didn't like the second prophecy, it does play a small part in the story, but it won't be mentioned until everyone gets a bit older. I hope that you liked what I did with Harry, I always thought that he would be understanding of the whole thing. Finally, yes Scorpius will have some sort of action in each year. Second year is only slightly calmer, and third year is where everything goes completely crazy.  
Rafolution: Once again, you have saved me from my silly mistakes. I have fixed the spelling of prophecy in this chapter, and will fix the rest of the mistakes now that this chapter has been posted. I'm so happy that I could brighten your day! If you think that this year was intense, I hope that I can keep it up.**

**I am looking for a Beta, as I am obviously not perfect and have made little mistakes in the story so far. PM me if you're interested! **

**As usual, thank you for reading. Reviews are loved.**

**You are all fantastic!**

**Next year: Scorpius tries to figure out what exactly his family has done in the past that he is destined to fix. Secrets are uncovered that may just make life a little bit better for Scorp, but out in the wizarding world, turmoil is brewing. What could one second year do to help stop the dark powers that are rising?**


	10. Chapter 10: The Rewards of Being Bold

**Disclaimer: Wait, this isn't mine? I'm off to go sulk now.**

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Year Two- The Deeds of the Past

Chapter 10: The Rewards of Being Bold

Scorpius Malfoy was sure that he would make the Gryffindor Quidditch team at some point during his time at Hogwarts. One of his school friends, Alice Longbottom, had pointed out that he had the makings to be one "fine, fit man." Then she said that he made a scrawny twelve-year-old and to give it time. Scorpius had flushed bright red when she said that while Rose Weasley had spluttered and Albus Potter had looked away.

He was sure that all the running he had done this summer would help him along the path that Alice envisioned. That was what he was doing right then, running. He ducked under a tree branch while ignoring the painful burning in his lungs. Naturally, he hadn't listened to Rose's advice as they got off the train to not anger his family, and only one week into break he found himself literally running to the hills to escape his grandfather at least once a day.

Today's escapade involved his grandfather saying that Scorpius' light blond hair was getting much too long and was messy enough for him to fit in with the Potter brats. Scorpius swallowed the bite of cereal that he was chewing before politely responding, "I like my hair this way. At least it isn't as long as yours. You could pass for a girl."

Which was why he was about two miles away from his house when he finally stopped, collapsing against a tree. He could almost hear Rose chastising him, "_Scorpius why are you intentionally making him mad? I thought that you promised not to_!" Albus would probably give him a high five. Scorpius sighed as he lay back against the tree. He'd gone barking mad that's for sure. After Professor Trelawney's murder and the adventure at the Ministry, he felt restless and nervous. Somehow, these nerves had been channeled into snapping at his grandfather, something that a few months previous would have made him check into St. Mungo's if he even considered it.

Still, why had he snapped? Scorpius was on edge after discovering a prophecy that claimed that he was to save the wizarding world, but that didn't mean he was supposed to completely lose any sense of self preservation. If his grandfather really wanted to kill him, it wouldn't be too difficult to find him with magic. That was really a miracle, Scorpius thought, that his grandfather had threatened him, but hadn't touched him yet. Maybe that was why he was being bold. "_A stupid bold idiot who is going to end up dead by the end of summer,_" Scorpius could hear Lucy sneer in his head.

Oh. Lucy.

Scorpius sighed as Lucy Weasley crossed his mind. Lucy was going to be a third year at Hogwarts, but still hung out with him and his second year friends. At least that's what she used to do. After the trip to the Ministry, Lucy had pretty much been avoiding them. Scorpius had written her once and asked how her summer was going, but unlike his letters to his other friends there hadn't been a response yet.

Rose had written him a long letter back when he had mentioned Lucy to her. After telling him that she had already completed her summer homework and nearly beat Hugo at chess, she wrote:

_Scorpius don't worry about Lucy. She never really got along with anyone in the family before Hogwarts, and maybe she's gone back to feeling that way. Weasleys are stubborn by nature, and she's got an extra dose of stubbornness somehow. Don't worry that she hasn't been writing to you, she won't even talk to me or Al at family gatherings. I know that you are beating yourself up about it, so stop it Scorp. Instead of worrying about that, you should be making sure that you don't get yourself killed! Al said that you have been mouthing off. Really Scorp? Don't you remember coming to my house on Christmas after your last encounter with your grandfather? Not that I don't want to see you soon, I'd just rather not have to mop your blood off the floor. Just be careful._

_Love,  
__Rose_

Scorpius had snorted when he read that last line. He could see Rose scrubbing the floors, her wild red hair pinned away from her face, and saying, "_Scorpius why did you have to bleed all over the nice clean floors? I know you were dying and all, but really_!" He missed her.

He shook himself from his thoughts. September was still two and a half months away, and most likely he wouldn't see his friends until then. The tree crackled as he used it to pull himself back up. It was about noon, and Scorpius wanted lunch more than he wanted to avoid his grandfather. Gingerly, he stepped over roots and under tree branches as he made his way slowly back towards Malfoy Manor. Before he reached the edge of the forest and the beginning of Malfoy property, something on a tree caught his eye. Carved into the bark was DM+AG. Scorpius smiled, it seemed that he wasn't the only Malfoy to take a trip into the woods and away from the imposing mansion.

Scorpius' smile didn't last long. He had been betting on his grandfather returning to his office doing whatever he did all day, but when Scorpius entered the kitchen, a strong hand painfully gripped his shoulder. With a shout, Scorpius turned to face his livid grandfather. "You need to learn some respect boy," Lucius spat. "The Gryffindor filth that you have been hanging out with hasn't taught you any manners."

"They've taught me more than you have," Scorpius snapped back, "You've just taught me to abuse those who are weaker than you and how to be a complete arse."

"Scorpius!" Astoria Malfoy burst into the room clutching her wand. She tried to school her features into a less fearful, more determined look, "You need to come on now. I have things for you to do." For a second, Lucius dug his fingers deeper into Scorpius before roughly shoving him away.

Dutifully, Scorpius followed his mother outside as she dragged him towards the garden. "Scorp, what has gotten into you?" She said quietly.

Immediately on the defensive, Scorpius crossed his arms, "I'm sick of the way that he treats me. The way that he treats all of us actually. You know that some families," he wouldn't say Weasleys, "all get along? They don't worry that their mental grandfather is going to snap and murder everyone in their beds while they are sleeping."

"Then why are you pushing him?" Astoria pulled on gardening gloves as she examined the many colorful plants spilling over the sides of one of the planters.

"I dunno. It's like something inside me snapped I guess. I can't take him anymore!" Scorpius flung a trowel so that it stuck in the ground, handle quivering.

His mother gave a small laugh, "That's the Malfoy in you Scorp. They don't take getting pushed around well. I wish that you wouldn't push him back though," she sobered suddenly, "It won't end well."

"Why then do we still live with them?" Scorpius asked suddenly, "Doesn't Dad makes enough money to buy our own house? We could move somewhere else and you could make the entire backyard a garden, and maybe my friends could actually come over without worrying about getting cursed."

She gave a sad smile, "It's complicated Scorp. Could you hand me the trowel?" He yanked the tool from the ground and placed it into his mother's outstretched hand.

"I really don't see why it's so complicated. You and Dad just need to tell him to shove off."

"Scorpius!" His mother brushed her dark hair away from her tired face and looked up at her son, "Don't you think that we would take you away from him if we could?"

Scorpius was stunned into silence for a moment, "Yeah."

She gave him a sad look, "Come help me with this cabbage." Both mother and son continued to dig their hands into the soil until the sun went down.

It wasn't until dinnertime that Scorpius remembered that he was hungry, and at the prompting of his mother, took extra food up to his room with him. Ceres was perched on his window with a letter tied to her leg when he entered the room. After placing the sandwiches on his desk, he tossed her a treat as he snatched the letter. A quick check at the writing on the front showed that it was from Albus.

"Finally," Scorpius grumbled as he opened the letter. He'd written Albus days ago, and hadn't heard back even though Scorpius specifically said that he was going mental.

_Scorp,  
__Sorry that you are going mental mate. I tried to get you away from that place, but Mum and Dad said that they couldn't invite you over. What the bloody hell does that mean? Can you invite yourself over? James has been sulking since Lily and I pranked him a couple days ago and he can't get us back while our parents watch his every move. (James and Fred cursed Hugo the other day, and he's been grounded for a while.) Rose has been over a lot. She made me tell her that you have been going off on your crazy git of a grandfather. I'm sure that she has already written you telling you to stop. I'll just say that you've earned my respect. Saved the world recently? Hope your grandfather hasn't offed you yet! If you can, try and come over anytime.  
__Al_

Scorpius flopped back onto his bed and picked up a sandwich slice. Maybe he would try to stay out of trouble for a week and then ask to go over to the Potters. It's not like he had to stay locked away all summer. It was just his grandfather's stupid prejudice holding him back. If there was one thing this summer that Scorpius was going to do other than not being killed or saving the world, it was going to be escaping the walls of Malfoy Manor.

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**A/N: It's summertime for good old Scorpy! It will be a little while before the gang is reunited, but Scorpius is going to have some adventures before he goes running from his prison- I mean Malfoy Manor. I really wanted to have Scorp do a little growing up here. I think that the end of the year would have altered his outlook on life. When faced with death and the end of the wizarding world, Lucius doesn't seem as terrible. So we get a little bit of defiant!Scorpius... Who is so much fun to write.**

**Thank you to Rafolution and Stromsten for your reviews!  
Rafolution: Summer adventures featuring Draco and Astoria are exactly what is up next! I did think that Harry would act like Dumbledore a bit, but try and tweak his approach. Dumbledore wasn't always up front with Harry and so I think that when Harry does talk to Scorp, he will be a lot more open. But that's just my own reasoning. The current headmistress will be more proactive in the future. We don't get to hear much from the lovely McGonagall yet, but there will be talk about the murder at Hogwarts in later chapters.  
Stromsten: Lucius is way crazy, but he will be calming down a bit. I'm so glad that you've liked the story and the next-gens so far! I love those kids, they are just so fun to write.**

**I have started another story, but this comes before that one! I really just wanted to write a fun, less angsty piece for a little bit. It's in no way related to this story.**

**Next time: Draco and Scorpius finally have a conversation that is more than just a line! Scorp gets angry at someone and letters are exchanged.**


	11. Chapter 11: Family Ties

**Disclaimer: After 65 pages, this still isn't mine.**

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Chapter 11: Family Ties

Staying out of trouble for one week was much too difficult for Scorpius. It wasn't that he was a bad kid, although he had developed the recent habit of back talking to his grandfather, it was just impossible for him to avoid trouble. The day after he received Albus' letter, he had accidentally dropped a dish while making himself lunch. That was easy enough to fix by magic, but the scorch marks on the ceiling and his missing eyebrows from the stove fire that he somehow caused two days later were more difficult to fix magically.

A singed Scorpius sat at the base of his parents' tree the next time he fled from his grandfather. (Apparently telling him that his name sounded similar to luscious was not a good idea.) It was nothing short of a miracle that he had survived the week, and he wasn't sure that he could last much longer. There was a rustle, and Scorpius froze as he realized that someone was approaching him. He pressed himself against the tree in a futile attempt to make himself smaller and less visible.

When the figure rounded the corner, Scorpius was shocked to come face to face with his father, who seemed just as surprised to see him. "What are you doing out here?" Draco asked calmly.

"Hiding," Scorpius replied, "What are you doing out here?"

Draco's lips twitched up into a small smile, "I come out here to think." He ran his pale fingers along the initials carved into the tree. "It reminds me of happier times."

Scorpius silently watched his dad drift into his memories of the past, "When were those happier times?"

"Right after your Mum and I got married," Draco smirked, "I didn't listen to my Dad you know. He wanted me to marry that cow Millicent Bulstrode or Pansy Parkinson. Anyone else really."

"Then why do you listen to him now?" Scorpius asked while he picked at the grass.

For a moment, Draco was speechless, but he quickly composed himself, "Because he's lazy and doesn't want to move out again," he drawled. "I wish that lazy git would get out of my house."

"Couldn't you kick him out?" Scorpius said as he straightened up to look at his dad, "I don't like him, he's mean."

"I've tried, but I can't kick Mum out," Draco looked uncomfortable. "It's complicated."

"Everyone says it's bloody complicated," Scorpius muttered angrily. "If I have to be stuck in the same house for another summer with that crazy, abusive git, I will go barmy! Couldn't I go visit Albus this summer?"

"You want to go to the Potters?" Draco looked even more uncomfortable now, "Is there another option that you would like other than kicking your mental grandfather out or spending time at the Potters? I don't want to be even more indebted to Potter."

"No. Come on, please!" Scorpius gave a charming smile that reminded Draco of a young Astoria.

"I could get you to the Potters- Calm down Scorpius I haven't finished talking!" Draco snapped as his son beamed at him, "Give me a week, and no telling your grandfather about this, got it?"

"Why would I tell him anything?" Scorpius said with a roll of his eyes.

"Don't even think it around him actually, and don't underestimate him. Now go on back to the house and pack your things. You are going to need to be ready to go to the Potters on a moments notice."

Scorpius scrambled up and took off towards the house while Draco leaned against the tree and closed his eyes. Much happier times lay in the past. Now how was he going to fix the mess that he had gotten his family into?

xXx

Albus was thrilled that Scorpius was coming to visit and had written a hasty note telling him to just come whenever so they could finally have even teams for Quidditch, but a week passed, and then two. When Scorpius crossed paths with his father, he would give him a meaningful look which would only be acknowledged by a shake of his father's head. Patience was not among Scorpius' qualities, and he was beginning to grow painfully impatient. He spent most of his days alone or with his mother in the garden, but even the enchanting plants couldn't keep him entertained. Now that he had been to Hogwarts and experienced life with friends constantly surrounding him, he was more lonely than before. Since his grandfather hadn't shown his face around the house in days, Scorpius considered the idea of having his friends over, but the consequences of having his friends bump into his intolerant grandfather kept that idea from happening.

It was a Saturday in July when Scorpius finally decided that he couldn't handle another month and a half in the Manor. His father hadn't said anything about the plans being cancelled, or given him a date for his escape. Sick of the secrecy, Scorpius decided to flat out ask his father what was going on. Saturdays usually meant that Draco would be focusing on paperwork at home, so Scorpius quietly walked the halls to his fathers's study. He knocked firmly on the door and waited for a response, but was met with silence. Boldly, Scorpius tried the door and found the study unlocked. It was a disaster. Papers had been flung around the room, books were over turned, and there were gashes along the walls. A quick glance proved that Draco wasn't around, and Scorpius turned to head out of the room but his eyes fell on a piece of paper that had stuck awkwardly to the door.

In large, bold lettering across the top it read, _Lucius Malfoy- Unsuccessful Treatment. Mentally unstable, place in solitary confinement_. Scorpius gaped at the words. There printed in black and white it said to remove his grandfather from any human interaction. Then why was he living in Malfoy Manor? The rest of the paper seemed to be filled with medical jargon, but Scorpius could pick out the words "dangerous", "restrain" and "threatening" from the rest of the text. The paper fell from his fingers, and he quickly left the room with the new frightening information bouncing around in his head. He had only made it halfway down the hall when noise from a half opened room got his attention.

Inside, Scorpius saw his father and grandfather arguing quietly. Lucius looked as mental as the paper said he was. His long hair stuck out at odd angles and his clothes were rumpled. In no way was he the imposing man that Scorpius was familiar with, but his disheveled look made him seem even more frightening. Draco seemed to be cautious around the mad man too. His wand was gripped firmly in his hand, but he attempted to causally lean against a bookshelf to appear that he was at ease and in control of the situation.

"I think it is about time you should leave," Draco drawled while he examined his wand.

"You know why I can't do that," Lucius said sharply.

"I'm calling your bluff."

Lucius laughed coldly, sending chills up Scorpius' spine, "Do you really want to risk that? You know if you take that gamble and lose what waits for you, for Astoria, and for Scorpius. So young, it would be such a shame to have his life ruined."

"You can't treat us this way, you are under my roof-"

"And you have to play by my rules Draco. If you had just raised that boy with respect then I wouldn't have to discipline him."

"You don't discipline, you have been abusing my son! This is it, you are gone _Father,_" Draco spat the word like a curse. "Mother can stay here as she hasn't done anything wrong, but you will not come near my son again."

Scorpius gave a small gasp, and his father and grandfather turned and spotted him looking through the crack in the door. Draco paled when he spotted his son, and Lucius gave a wide smile which made him look even more deranged. "Speak of the devil," Lucius drawled as he picked up his wand, "You still want to call my bluff Draco? I could prove you wrong right now."

Draco pointed his wand at his father, "I'd go get your bags and find your mother Scorpius."

Not willing to stay and find out what was happening, Scorpius turned and ran as his grandfather's voice echoed after him, "The new order is coming! You stand in our way and we will make sure that you are the first to become undone!" Scorpius burst into his room, yanking his bag out from under his bed before sprinting downstairs and out into the garden where his mother looked up in alarm.

"Time to go?" She asked as she dusted herself off.

After catching his breath, he managed to gasp, "Grandfather threatened me, and said something about becoming undone."

Astoria's eyes widened, and she quickly grabbed him and ran towards the house, "You have your wand right Scorpius?" He nodded. "If we see your grandfather, pull it out and use Protego. I don't care about the underage magic laws right now." She lowered her voice, "Oh Merlin I didn't think that he would ever succeed." They reached the kitchen and Astoria scrambled to find the floo powder which had been placed in a high cabinet. "_Accio_ floo powder!" She cried as the little pouch flew into her hands. Scorpius was dragged over to the fireplace and Astoria tossed some of the powder into the flames, "Go now Scorpius, I'll owl you soon."

"I'm not going yet," Scorpius pulled his arm away from his mother's grip, "You have to tell me what is going on!"

"This isn't really the time-"

"If you tell me, then I'll leave," Scorpius pleaded, "I want to know what is wrong."

"Your grandfather lost a lot after the Second Wizarding War," Astoria said in a rush, "He barely escaped an Azkaban sentence. Everyone thought he had learned his lesson as Draco and Narcissa did to deflate their egos and stop with the power-hungry pureblood act. The Malfoy family seemed to have left the Dark Arts behind for good then. I met your father a few years later and we began dating, got married and moved in here. Draco then found out that his father had been dabbling with the Dark Arts a few years after you were born, and forced him to move in here to try to stop him. Your grandfather a three years ago claimed to have discovered something terrible, something that would destroy anyone who would cross his path. He wants to make the Malfoy family something great again, and he won't stop. He won't even consider sparing you if you get in his way. Please Scorpius, go! I've watched him slowly go mad from his experiments, and you need to be safe, _please_."

"What is it? What is the thing that he discovered?"

"Something terrible Scorpius. Some say that it is impossible, but if he's figured it out-"

"You aren't telling me! _What is it_?"

Astoria shook her head and kissed her son's forehead before pushing him back into the green flames. Frustrated, Scorpius cried, "I won't go!"

His mother smiled before she calmly said, "Where are you not wanting to go?"

"The Potters!" Scorpius slapped a hand over his mouth in anger, how had he fallen for a stupid trick like that? He knew better! As he spun away, the last thing he saw was his mother's smiling face and his grandfather entering the room behind her, but before he could call out a warning, he was gone.

* * *

**A/N: Just a little bit on the Malfoys and their background before we head over to the Potters, but we will be seeing them really soon... I've got some Draco/Astoria moments planned cause we haven't seen those two interact so far. I'm not sure how I feel about Draco's character here though. I think that he would have grown up in nineteen years quite a bit, but still be a bit hotheaded. Hopefully he's IC.**

**Ah Lucius... He's gone a bit mad if you haven't noticed, but from what? You'll have to wait and see!**

**I would first like to thank those who have recently favored and put this story on alert, a lot of you joined in last chapter, so welcome!**

**Of course, a HUGE thank you to the amazing Rafolution for reviewing! Seriously, thank you for reviewing each time, I look forward to hearing what you say. Goodness I'm embarrassed that I missed something as serious as magic outside of school. I'll fix that ASAP. Good point about the cursing too, I do agree that it would be more serious. I'll probably just rewrite that entire part...**

**Next time: Scorpius gets to the Potters where life is definitely more fun and only slightly less dangerous.**

**And last note, I am still looking for a beta, if you're interested, please let me know!**


	12. Chapter 12: Typical Day at the Potters

**Disclaimer: If Harry Potter was mine, I think I would remember writing it.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Just Your Typical Day at the Potters

Scorpius stumbled out of the fireplace and whirled back around, "I have to go back!" He began to frantically look for a pot of floo powder around the fireplace.

"Why do you have to go back? Are you one of James or Al's friends?" He turned around to find a bright eyed red haired girl staring at him.

"Al's. You're Lily right? Do you know where your floo powder is? I need to go back home."

"Wait, you're Scorpius Malfoy!" Lily's eyes lit up, "Al's been waiting ages for you to come here! ALBUS!" She screamed the last word and then went running out of the room.

It only took a moment for Albus to come into the room with his siblings trailing after him, "Scorp! When'd you get here?"

"Just a minute ago, but I need to go back! I think my mum might be in trouble."

"Ah, you're looking for the floo powder aren't you?" James asked, "We don't have any right now due to the fact that playing mean pranks 'isn't very nice' and I'm grounded."

"What does you being grounded have to do anything with not having floo powder?" Scorpius snapped impatiently.

"You underestimate how dangerous I can be with a tub of that powder," he said cryptically. "So there's none."

Scorpius felt like yanking his hair out, apparently his grandfather had some sort of dangerous secret and he was here on his safe holiday. "Scorp, I'm sure everything's okay," Albus tried to calm him down, "But how about we go find Mum and you can see about heading back over there for a bit?"

Albus led Scorpius upstairs into a bright room where Ginny Potter sat writing a letter to her Mum. She glanced up and spotted the two boys, "Scorpius? When did you get in?"

"Just a minute ago Mrs. Potter, but I've got to go back! I think my mum's in trouble."

Ginny gave him a sad smile, "I can't let you go back."

"Why-" He stared at her for a moment before the idea struck him, "You know what's going on."

"Yes, which is why you have to stay here." He started to argue back when the thought struck him, _Harry_. He'd promised to tell him what was going on.

Scorpius gave a bright smile, "Alright then Mrs. Potter."

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him, "I know you're up to something Scorpius. I grew up with six brothers and raised James, I can tell when someone is scheming."

"I take offense to that statement," James said from the doorway.

Ginny shook her head, "Al, show Scorpius up to your room. Don't you dare think about doing anything rash!" She called after their backs as they traveled down the hall.

"This is Lily's room," Albus pointed to the first door they passed, "then James, then mine." He pushed open a door to a room that was as bright as the rest of the house. The scarlet walls were covered by Quidditch posters, Gryffindor banners and photographs.

Albus flopped onto his bed while Scorpius spotted a picture of the two of them and Rose sitting out by the lake at Hogwarts. "I remember this," he said as he watched the three of them grinning up at him and waving.

"Yeah, so Scorp, what's going on and what are you planning?" Albus quickly asked.

Scorpius sighed and turned away from the picture to face his best friend who was staring at him with eager eyes, "I'm actually planning on just talking to your dad."

"But that's no fun!" Albus exclaimed, "We could get James involved and maybe Lily, she's dead clever despite being so young-"

"Al, be serious," Scorpius frowned, "This isn't about some silly little prank. This is something bad."

Albus sat up, "What's going on?"

"Apparently my grandfather has been planning something really dangerous. You know my grandfather right?"

"How could I forget that git Lucius?"

Scorpius nodded, "Yeah. He's apparently come up with something really dangerous that my parents have been trying to prevent. He used the term becoming undone, and Mum got really scared when she heard that he succeeded. She tricked me into coming here and I think that she might be in trouble."

Albus listened with a surprised look on his face, "Scorp, I don't want to sound mean, but what could you possibly do?"

"I don't know!" He exclaimed in frustration, "Something! Just not sitting here not knowing what is going on. You didn't see Lucius, he's lost it Al, and I can't just sit here while he does Merlin knows what. Especially if it is as bad as everyone says. Which is why I'm going to talk to your dad. He promised me at the end of first year that he would always be honest with me. I think that your mom knows something, and if she knows, then your dad has to know and he will tell me." Scorpius saw the skeptical look on Albus' face, "There's something wrong with my plan isn't there?"

"Yeah, Dad's gone on Auror business. I'm not sure when he's getting back."

"That's great," Scorpius muttered, "Let's just keep my bad luck going."

"Alright!" James burst into Al's room, "How about you two come play Quidditch so Lily and I could destroy you?"

"You're on!" Albus leapt up, "Come on Scorp!" He followed his brother out of the room while Scorpius reluctantly followed after him. Albus obviously didn't understand how serious the situation was and Scorpius was annoyed. Still, he eventually found his way out to the backyard and couldn't help but feel a bit more cheerful at the prospect of getting on a broom again.

James stood carrying four brooms, "I'm keeper and Lily is my chaser." The small girl picked up her broom and smiled wickedly. "Scorp what do you usually play?"

"Chaser," he responded as he took a broom from James.

"Excellent, Albie you're keeper then too."

"I'm crap at keeper," Albus muttered to Scorpius, "All I'm good at is seeking."

"Well it shouldn't be that bad," Scorpius said as he eyed the other two Potters, "Lily's only what? Ten? She can't be that good." Albus just laughed at him.

Lily stood grinning with the quaffle in her hands, "Want to test that theory?"

Scorpius jumped on his broom, "You bet."

Lily mounted her broom while James and Albus took their positions next to the goal posts on either side of the Potter's pitch. "You are so going to lose." She chucked the quaffle to him, and Scorpius shot off towards the other side, dodging Lily's attempts to steal the ball from him. He easily scored on James, and Lily took the ball with a steely look on her face as she turned back to face Scorpius.

Scorpius was pretty good, but unfortunately Albus wasn't lying when he said that he wasn't a good keeper. With James as the Gryffindor keeper and Lily being much better than Scorpius had expected, the two boys found themselves down by over two hundred points when the game ended. "Couldn't keep up Scorpy!" James crowed as he hugged his little sister, "Can't defeat the unbeatable Potters. When we have enough players for three on three, we three are unstoppable with Albie as seeker."

"Yeah I guess," Albus looked miffed after loosing that badly. "Once Rose and Hugo get back from vacation then we could have a game that's actually evenly matched."

"Rose is on vacation?" Scorpius asked, "She didn't mention that in her letters."

"She didn't exactly want to tell you that she was going on a vacation to Italy while you were trapped in Malfoy Manor," Albus said awkwardly. The four of them walked into the house where James wandered off to the kitchen saying something about eating. Lily looked eagerly at Albus as he and Scorpius started walking upstairs, "Go bug James, Lily." She glared and then flounced off to annoy her eldest brother. The two boys returned to Albus' room, Albus shut the door awkwardly, "What are we going to do about your psychotic grandfather?"

"So now you care about that, unlike when I was talking and you went running off to play Quidditch."

"I had to figure out a plan, it's easier for me to think when I'm flying," Albus said defensively.

"Maybe you would get better marks if you flew all the time then," Scorpius shot back, still slightly upset with Albus.

"Look, I have an idea. Talking to Dad would work if we knew he would be back soon, but we don't. Instead, we could try to talk to Uncle Ron!" Albus looked positively gleeful as he announced his plan.

Scorpius however, was skeptical, "How would Ron help us out?"

"First we get Rose on board, she will be back from vacation tonight, and tomorrow we could go over to her house and since Uncle Ron and Dad are best friends, he probably knows everything. All we need to do is smile and Rose sucks up to him and he will tell us everything. He's a sucker for her."

"Only one problem," Scorpius said as he thought back to the time that he ended up at Rose's house, "I'm pretty sure that her dad doesn't like me."

"I thought of that too," Albus said dismissively, surprising Scorpius, "Just mention how big of a git Lucius is and Uncle Ron will immediately warm up to you."

As Scorpius looked at Albus' confident expression, he couldn't help but consider all that could go wrong. Ron didn't promise to tell Scorpius anything, and hadn't exactly been cordial the few times that Scorpius had met him. Then again, they would have Rose on their side. If anyone could pull off that miracle, it would be her. Finally, Scorpius spoke, "When could we talk to Rose?"

Albus grinned, "Soon."

Far away in another room of the house, there was a crashing noise followed by Ginny's cry of "James!"

"It wasn't me Mum! I swear it was Lily!" He hollered back. There was another crash.

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!" There were frantic footsteps running down the hall and then the sound of a door slamming shut.

Albus laughed, "The funny thing is that actually could have been Lily."

"Lily would have done that?" Scorpius asked thinking of the small innocent girl.

"Didn't she destroy you in Quidditch? Don't think she is all innocence. She's sly, just as tricky as James but not as flashy as he is."

Far away in the house the boys heard a call of "ALBUS!"

He jumped up in fright, "I didn't do anything so if they blame whatever happened in me you have to back me up." The two of them found Ginny in the kitchen repairing numerous dishes that had fallen to the floor and smashed.

"Those children!" Ginny muttered as another flick of her wand sent the newly repaired dishes back to their places. "Al, could you and Scorpius run to the market? I need some things for dinner tonight." She gave a wave of her wand and a piece of parchment and a small bag of money zoomed in from another room which Albus easily caught.

"Sure Mum." Albus shoved the items into his pocket before the two of then headed out.

"We are so lucky," Albus said in awe, "We won't have to hear Mum holler at James and Lily to figure out who caused that mess."

"Mhm." Scorpius mumbled distractedly as he gazed about the wooded lane they were now walking along. "Where exactly are we?"

"It's a part of Godric's Hollow. We are a bit further away from most of the other houses; Rose lives the closest and you can only see her house from the roof of ours. The rest of the village is about a twenty minute walk so it's nice and quiet. There's a small market that we usually go to that's right before most of the houses are."

The two walked in silence as Albus led the way to the market, only speaking to point out Rose's house. Scorpius nodded, thinking about the last time that he visited that house. Albus had a small smile on his face as he pulled the bag of money from his pocket and swung it around enjoying the sunshine. Scorpius was the exact opposite of his cheerful friend. He had a small frown on his face as he walked, slightly slouched over as he wondered if he would know if anything bad happened at home. Most likely not, he finally decided. If something happened to his family, they would probably let him play Quidditch and pretend that the world was a safe place. Harry, Scorpius thought, he's my only hope to understand this. With a look at his carefree friend, Scorpius snorted, perhaps Harry is the only one who understands just how frightening the world could be.

The market was a small cluster of buildings where cheerful witches and wizards greeted Albus by name. "Who's your friend?" A wizard asked Albus while they were paying for their bags.

"This is Scorpius," Albus responded, and Scorpius noticed that he didn't give his last name.

"Scorpius?" The wizard echoed, "That's an unusual name." Scorpius watched him quietly appraise him, until his eyes widened for a moment before his face grew dark. "Ah, Malfoy."

Albus began pushing Scorpius out the door, "See you later!" The two boys nearly toppled over as they stepped back outside. "I think that this is all we need," Albus said in a rush. "We should go."

Scorpius kept his head down as they walked back the way that they came while Albus still waved cheerfully at the others who called out greetings to him. Once they left the crowded market, Albus stopped smiling to give Scorpius a concerned look. Scorpius didn't acknowledge him. He didn't want to think anymore, he didn't want to worry about what was happening at home, he didn't want to see the look of disgust on the face of that merchant, and he especially didn't want to think about saving the wizarding world.

At the end of last year, when Scorpius didn't want to think anymore, he'd gone out to sit by the lake. The glistening water seemed to be hypnotic, it was easy to not think about anything else. Once, a couple days before going home, he found Rose sitting in his usual spot. The two stared at the water for a moment after he took a seat next to her, Rose had her chin resting on her knees with her arms wrapped around her legs while Scorpius sprawled out on his stomach on the grass. "I come out here to forget," Scorpius finally said.

"I know," she said simply. She turned her head to look at him and Scorpius realized how exhausted she looked. They hadn't really seen each other much the past few days. Each of them had been questioned separately by McGonagall, and then there was the memorial for Professor Trelawney where Alice broke down sobbing and Lucy had stormed off. Scorpius had seen Albus and Alice, but Rose had always been missing. "I decided to try it," Rose added.

"Try what?"

"Forgetting something."

"What do you mean?" He asked as he propped his head up on his arms.

"When I don't want to think about something, I can't forget it," she said carefully. "I have to constantly think about something else in order to not constantly dwell on what I just want to forget. Does that even make sense? I just don't want to block it out, I want to stop thinking."

"I guess it does. Is it working?" Rose shook her head. "What are you thinking about then?"

"The theory behind Switching Spells," she said absentmindedly, already drifting away into her thoughts. Scorpius went back to staring at the lake, he'd stick to watching the water.

Now though, Scorpius could see what it was like to be Rose. Too many thoughts spun around in his mind. Think about school, schoolwork. What were we learning about at the end of last year? After a moment, Scorpius decided to start naming the moons of all the planets, a neutral topic from Astronomy. _Phobos, Deimos_... Albus started to speak, "Just ignore that prat, he doesn't know anything about you." _Io, Europa, Ganymede_... "If he really got to know you, he'd see that you're alright Scorp. He's just sore about the war after all these years." _Callisto, Amalthea_... "It's not like you are anything like the rest of the gits in your family."_ Himalia_... "Not everyone thinks like that."

Scorpius stopped and stared at Albus in shock, "Not everyone is like that? I'd say the majority of the wizarding world thinks I'm some dark wizard because of my family name."

"But you're not, so why do you care?" Albus shot back, "You have other things to worry about instead of what others think."

"Exactly," Scorpius said darkly, "I can't stop thinking about all of this. I don't need people thinking I'm all evil when I'm not on top of everything else I'm dealing with." He pushed open the door to the Potter's house while Albus trailed behind him.

"Here Mum," Albus said as he handed the bags to Ginny.

"You're staying and helping Al!" Ginny called as he turned away. He sighed, and picked up a knife to chop an onion at Ginny's command. Scorpius stood for a moment before sliding into a seat at the table. "Scorpius, how's your day been so far?"

He thought about how his day started, the reveal that there was some big secret that his grandfather was hiding, all the way up to being reminded that he couldn't escape his family name. Easily he lied, "Good."

Ginny gave him an exasperated look, "Alright then, if you say so."

He sighed and watched the two Potters chop up food for dinner. Albus was chopping that is, Ginny was wielding her wand which as she twirled it chopped up a carrot and then the pieces launched themselves into a pot. It seemed only to have been a minute until Ginny was calling up to Lily and James that dinner was ready. The two came thundering down the stairs simultaneously before skidding to a halt and plopping down into a couple of chairs by Scorpius.

"Thank you Mum," Lily said politely.

"'Hanks!" James mumbled as he grabbed a piece of bread to munch on.

Dinner was mostly quiet as James seemed to be attempting to eat everything himself while Lily would sneakily steal from his plate. Scorpius could tell that Ginny was waiting for the perfect moment to speak. "Which one of you ended up smashing all those dishes?" She said calmly near the end of the meal.

"James," Lily immediately said as she took a sip of water.

"No way! It was you! I'm not that irresponsible," James went to grab his third bowl of soup but instead sent the knife used to cut off pieces of bread soaring into the wall by Scorpius.

Ginny rubbed her eyes, "Never mind, I shouldn't have even asked." Albus snorted into his soup while Scorpius stared in shock at the knife still stuck into the wall behind his head.

"Just your average dinner at the Potter household," Lily remarked as James went to retrieve the knife.

xXx

Scorpius was still in one piece after dinner and enjoyed a fairly calm game of Exploding Snap- as calm as an exploding game could be that is. He attempted to make Albus play chess with him, but was told, "I've been beaten by Rose and Hugo my entire life, do you think I want to play you?" Ginny sent everyone up to bed when Lily fell asleep on the couch sometime after starting their tenth game. Scorpius had set up a cot in the corner of Albus' room and had fallen asleep instantly, grateful to lose himself in his dreams.

"Scorp! Wake up," Scorpius jerked awake and swiftly pulled his wand from underneath his pillow to point it at the person who disturbed him.

Albus backed away slowly into the moonlight streaming in through the open window with his hands raised, "Don't hex me! Merlin, you are jumpy."

"What do you want Al?" Scorpius said tiredly as he stowed his wand. Leave it to Albus to wake him up when he was dead tired.

"We've got to meet Rose," he whispered and tossed Scorpius a shirt. "Come on!" Still half asleep, Scorpius yanked on his shirt and followed Albus to the window. "Follow me," Albus swung up onto the ledge and used small rocks that had been attached to the side of the house to hoist himself onto the roof. "Just hold on tight. James and I have done this loads of times and we're fine."

Scorpius looked down at the ground twenty feet below, "I'm going back to bed now."

"No you're not!" Albus swung back down and somehow managed to grab Scorpius and force him to climb up too.

"Now what?" Scorpius said irritably as he lay on the roof staring at the stars.

Albus picked up a lantern that was perched on the edge of the roof, lit it, and began to swing it above his head, "We wait." After a moment, Albus blew out the lantern, and took a seat next to Scorpius, who was already falling asleep again. The stars seemed to come close enough that he could touch them if his arms weren't so heavy. They danced around and began to arrange themselves in various shapes. Rose, Scorpius thought, the stars looked like Rose.

"I'd wake up now," Rose said as she stood over Scorpius.

"You look like stars," he mumbled. Rose gave an annoyed look at Albus before forcefully rolling Scorpius onto his face, fully waking him up. "What?" He said as he jerked awake. "Rose, when did you get here?"

"I climbed up just a minute ago. It's nice to see you too." Rose sat down next to the two boys. "What's going on? I knew that you missed me Al, but I didn't expect you to signal the night that I got back. Is it because you finally showed up Scorp?"

"Yeah," Albus said, "Scorp's got some bad news, as of course his life isn't complicated enough." Scorpius launched into what he had discovered at his house earlier and then brought in his theory to ask Harry or Ron about what was going on.

Rose tugged on a piece of her wild hair as she listened, "Something's up, but I don't know if Dad will tell you what."

"Is it worth trying to get him to talk?" Scorpius asked.

"I guess it is. Dad's leaving tomorrow night though to go help Uncle Harry."

"You know where Dad is?" Albus asked eagerly.

"If you listened you would too. Uncle Harry has a lead on the escaped prisoners from Azkaban. Dad's gone mad because Harry wouldn't let him come until tomorrow."

"The escape?" Scorpius had forgotten about the escaped prisoners in the chaos at the end of the year. "They still haven't been caught?"

"No, it's a sore spot at the Ministry. They really need to improve security everywhere," Rose said scathingly. Scorpius could picture Lucy launching herself at a Ministry security guard, and gave a small snort of laughter.

"We will come over tomorrow to ask Uncle Ron then," Albus said firmly.

"I'll make sure that Mum and Dad know that you two are coming. Mum will be glad to see you both, but Dad's still wary of you Scorp because of your family."

"Everyone is," Scorpius said bitterly.

They stood up, and Rose gave each a quick hug, "I'll see you tomorrow then. Scorp, I'm glad that you managed to make it here in one piece and didn't show up this time just to bleed all over the floor."

"That's next time," he joked weakly. Rose smiled at them and swung down onto the side of the house. Scorpius was shocked to see how quickly she descended, apparently she had made the trip many times before. In a matter of moments, she had vanished into the darkness as she headed back home. The boys climbed back into Albus' room, Scorpius much slower than Albus, and into their beds. This time however, Scorpius didn't fall asleep immediately. In addition to the rest of his worries, he now could imagine Ron staring at him in disgust asking him why he was hanging around his daughter, and that she was never to speak to Malfoy scum again.

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**A/N: Another chapter finished. Hope that you enjoyed it!**

**First a thank you to my new beta hermione-amelia-rose1479. You're awesome!**

**Now reviews!  
dafna: Oh college... I'm sure that you are crazy busy so thank you for reading still! Ron's reaction is coming next chapter, I'm really excited for it.  
imperial queen: I'm glad that you like the story so far! Thanks for saying that you thought Draco was IC, I worried over that part for ages. Astoria is very clever, she's got things planned out more than Scorpius knows.  
Gingernut Won: None of it sounded rude at all. I love getting reviews like that, it makes me a better writer. I like the idea of adding more of the character's thoughts and feelings, I tried to do that a little bit here. Ah that prophesy... I agree the wording isn't the best. I actually read through it and think that I could have done much better if I had just rewritten it a few more times. I'll keep trying to get it to sound better. I have a couple theories as to how they made it into the Ministry, and I could bring them into the story later... but I don't have a clear cut answer right now to how easy it was for them. I'll try to make everything more realistic later. The escaped prisoners are going to be addressed during Scorpius second year, and Hogwarts will end up reacting to the outbreak more this year. Well, Scorpius will notice more this year that is. I promise that I didn't forget about that part and it will be fully addressed! I think that's everything. Thanks so much for your review!**

**Next time: Scorpius talks to Ron. This might not go well...**


	13. Chapter 13: Questions and More Questions

**Disclaimer: IT'S MINE! ALL MINE! MWHAHAHAHA! Not.**

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Chapter 13: Questions and More Questions

Waking up to the smell of bacon and sunshine spilling across his bed was something Scorpius wasn't accustomed to. Not an unwelcome change, but different. After making himself presentable, he joined the Potters in the kitchen. "Morning!" Ginny said brightly, "I was wondering if you'd ever get up." She began loading food onto a plate for him while Scorpius slid into the open seat next to Albus.

"We are going to go meet Rose soon," Albus muttered, "Hopefully her parents know we are coming by."

Scorpius nodded in understanding before he took his full plate of food from Ginny. "Thank you," he said politely before picking up a crunchy piece of bacon. Ginny smiled at him before turning back to remove more cooking bacon from the stovetop. Munching on his breakfast, Scorpius watched James and Lily have a miniature food fight. The two of them were sitting across the table from each other, and were tossing small pieces of food back and forth while Ginny's back was turned. Lily managed to hit James right between his eyes with a grape. In retaliation, James launched a spoonful of oatmeal which Lily expertly dodged so that it smacked the wall by Ginny.

"James!" Ginny yelled as she spun around.

Albus pushed his plate away, "Scorp and I are going to see Rose!"

She waved her hand impatiently while she was still focused on James, "What have I told you about throwing food?"

Albus grabbed Scorpius and began dragging him out of the room. "What are you doing?" Scorpius asked as he bit into one of the bacon strips he had grabbed before Albus had pulled him away, "We weren't in trouble."

"It's best to run before she gets going," Albus said. "Besides, don't you want to go talk to Uncle Ron as soon as possible to see what's going on?"

"I'd rather finish breakfast first," Scorpius mumbled, glancing back towards the kitchen where the smell of food was coming from, but the sound of Ginny reprimanding James deterred him. "Alright then."

Soon enough, the two of them were wandering across the field that separated the two houses, pushing aside the waist high grass. "We would all play in this field as kids," Albus explained. "Mum and Dad moved in here before James was born. It's much quieter here, the press apparently was insane when they lived in London. Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione moved in right before Lily and Hugo were born, and this has been our playground ever since."

"Some playground," Scorpius said sarcastically as he caught his foot in a small hole and tripped.

"Er, yeah. Watch for the holes," Albus warned as he dragged Scorpius back onto his feet. It was a short walk before the Weasley's house came into view. Albus led him in through the back door which opened into a very familiar kitchen.

"Al!" Rose pushed back from the table to give her cousin a hug. "Scorp!" Scorpius was surprised that Rose also gave him a tight hug, "When did you get here?"

He nearly responded by saying that she knew as he had told her last night, but a swift severe glance made him respond, "I just got in yesterday. How was Italy?"

Rose smiled and gave a small jerk of her head towards her mother who was reading the Daily Prophet at the table. Hermione didn't know that Rose had snuck out then Scorpius understood. "It was lovely," Rose sighed. "I'd like to visit again someday soon."

Hermione folded up the paper, "Hello boys," she said cheerfully. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Already ate Aunt Hermione," Albus piped up. "We came over here to see everyone as soon as we were done." Scorpius used Albus' conversation with his aunt to quickly peek into the next room to see if Ron was there. He felt a small pang of worry when he didn't see him. What if he had already left and Scorpius had missed his chance and discovering what was going on?

A very grumpy Ron decided to appear after a moment. "Can't believe I have to wait to leave. Harry has to go off and be the bloody hero by himself again."

"He just wants you to be able to enjoy your vacation," Hermione said, matching his sour tone. "You'll be off tonight."

Ron dropped into a seat at the table and reached for the Prophet before he noticed the children watching him. "Morning Rosie, Al," he scowled, "Malfoy."

"I think we are hungry Aunt Hermione," Albus suddenly said, "Could we have some food?" She summoned some toast and silently passed it to her nephew while she continued to glare at her husband who ignored her.

There was silence in the kitchen for a moment as Scorpius and Albus nibbled on their toast while Rose glanced back and forth at her parents. It was only a matter of time before one of them snapped, Scorpius thought. Ron's ears slowly were getting more red as he held the paper to block his face, and Hermione was banging around in the kitchen, growing louder by the second. "Ronald could you be nice!" Hermione finally exploded, tossing a dishtowel into the sink.

"Here we go," Rose sighed.

"What did I do?" He shot back, chucking the paper back onto the table.

"You haven't said one word to any of the children so far-"

"I said hello!"

"Don't interrupt!" Hermione snapped, "I know that you are still not fond of the Malfoys, but Scorpius is a nice boy. Don't treat him poorly because his father and grandfather were awful to us."

"He's a Malfoy, how much could he change? Lucius and Draco probably poisoned his mind already, and now he's hanging around our children!" Scorpius flinched at the comment. It wasn't surprising to him that Ron was acting this way, but it still hurt.

"Might I remind you that he's in Gryffindor?" Hermione countered.

"Pettigrew was in Gryffindor!" Scorpius was reminded oddly of the first time that he had spoken to Albus and Rose as he listened to the two adults.

"Scorpius isn't going to turn to the dark! Besides, don't you trust Rose enough to choose good friends?"

Ron glanced nervously from his wife's livid face to his daughter's equally upset one, "Yes but-"

"Then why are you holding onto the notion that Scorpius is like the rest of the Malfoys?" Hermione had moved closer to Ron, her hands on her hips.

"I- Uh- Come on Hermione," Ron begged as his argument began to crumple.

"We should get out of here," Rose whispered as she tugged the boys back through the door that they were still standing nearby. "Hugo is somewhere outside, how about we go find him?"

"But I have to talk to your dad!" Scorpius watched as Rose shut the door with a snap and began walking away.

"He will be in a better mood once he and Mum make up, and we don't want to stick around for that part," she grimaced before leading them towards the edge of their yard that bordered a small grove of trees.

"I'd trust her here mate," Albus said as he followed her. Scorpius gave one last glance at the house before he jogged to catch up to his two friends. The three of them found Hugo propped up in a tree, staring at the sky. One of his legs dangling off of the branch while the other was hooked around the tree to keep him in place.

"Hugo!" Rose called up to him with a wave.

He glanced down at the three of them below him, "Hello Rosie. Mum and Dad are fighting again aren't they?"

"How did you-" Scorpius began to say.

Hugo swung down from his branch and scrambled down the tree, "That's easy," he remarked after he landed on the ground with a small thump. "Dad isn't fond of the Malfoy family, while Mum realized that you're a decent bloke. Naturally, they fight. Which causes Rose to leave the house and bring you two. She doesn't want to go far, so she would probably figure out what I'm doing first. That leads you guys here."

"You're ten," Scorpius stared at the young boy, who cooly looked back at him. "Your parents must go mad if you can understand all that."

"Mum and Dad do tire of my observations sometimes. What are you planning on doing today Rosie?"

"I was thinking we could play three on three Quidditch," Rose offered.

Hugo tilted his head to the side, his eyes sliding out of focus, "Staying close? You must need to speak to Mum or Dad, but Albus and Scorpius are here, one of them must need to talk to them. Albus would have come alone, so its Scorpius who needs to speak to someone. As I have heard that there are plans to have Scorpius stay the summer at the Potters in case of problems at his house, I'm assuming that something bad has happened. If that is the case, then he would undoubtedly wish to speak to an Auror, but Harry is gone. Which means Dad. Going back to the problems at home, Scorpius must wish to speak about them quickly which is why he is here so early. I'm assuming that you wish to speak to Dad as soon as possible then. Judging about the subject our parents are currently rowing about and factoring in making up time, we should avoid the house for around three hours before approaching Dad. Plenty of time to play Quidditch."

Scorpius could feel the shocked expression on his face, but couldn't do anything to change it. It was scary how bright Hugo was. How was it possible that Ron Weasley could have a son who could spout out something like that? "Great," Rose said, unruffled by her brother's remarks. "Let's go get James and Lily."

Brother and sister headed off towards the Potters, but Scorpius remained rooted to the spot. "That's unreal," he said to Albus.

Albus smirked, "It takes some getting used to, that's for sure. He grows on you though. Impossible to keep secrets from him for long, and impossible to figure out secrets he keeps from you. James and Fred have been trying to get him to become a prankster, but he won't as it's a 'waste of his time.'"

"Right," Scorpius said weakly as they followed the two redheads.

xXx

It took only a little convincing to allow James and Lily out. Ginny was growing tired of her two trouble makers, and was more than happy to shove them out to play when Rose and Hugo smiled at her. "Potters verses Weasleys and a Malfoy!" James called as brooms were distributed. The three Potters put their heads together to no doubt talk strategy.

"What positions do you play?" Scorpius asked the Weasley siblings.

"Usually chaser," Rose said, "But I play seeker too. I'm assuming you want to be chaser?" Scorpius nodded.

"I'm keeper," Hugo added calmly, "I'm not a fast flyer, but keeping is more about watching for body language that shows clearly where the ball is going to go."

Scorpius brushed aside his shock as Hugo once again impressed him, "Let's go then."

This time, he started with the ball, as a smirking Lily faced off against him. "You're not going to beat me this time."

"You're so optimistic that it's more pathetic than cute," Lily said as the game began. Albus and Rose circled the pitch as he and Lily zig zagged around. Hugo was surprisingly good at being keeper. He didn't seem very comfortable on the broom, but he could accurately predict Lily's movements, much to her frustration.

"Stop blocking me!" She snarled as Hugo tossed the ball to Scorpius.

"Stop being so obvious," Hugo countered while Scorpius took off towards James.

The game would have easily been in favor of the Weasleys if it wasn't for Albus. He had inherited Harry's thin build and exceptional seeking skills. After nearly three hours of game play, the Potters were victorious after Albus' spectacular dive and catch, 310 to 290.

"You're getting better Hugo," James said as he threw down his broom with a grin.

"Lily's getting easier to predict," Hugo responded, earning him a dirty look from his cousin.

"We would have beaten you!" Rose grumpily said, as Albus stored the snitch away. "If we had a better seeker-"

"Who's a better seeker in this family?" Albus said cockily.

"Your parents," Rose responded. Scorpius added his broom to the pile feeling only slightly disappointed. He was more focused on going over to speak with Ron. Rose saw him glance back towards her house, "Hugo, do you think we could go home now?"

"I think it's safe, just bang around in the kitchen if Mum and Dad aren't downstairs to let them know you're back." Hugo opted to stay at the Potters for lunch while Rose, Albus and Scorpius traveled back to the Weasleys.

"Couldn't your houses be closer together?" Scorpius sighed as they finally approached the door.

Rose opened the door and peered inside. The kitchen was empty, so Rose slammed the door loudly behind the two boys. "Don't slam the door!" Came Hermione's voice from the next room over. The three children found Ron sitting on the couch with his feet on the table, toying with Hermione's hair while she read with her head in his lap.

One look at Ron determined that he was in a much better mood than he was earlier. "Where have you been?" He asked with a silly grin on his face.

"Quidditch," Rose answered, plopping down on the other couch and motioning for the boys to follow.

"Did you win?" He asked.

"Naw, Al's still too good for me to beat."

Ron shrugged, "Just as long as you and Hugo can still beat him in chess." Albus made a face, clearly showing what he thought about chess.

"Scorpius wants to talk to you Dad," Rose said suddenly changing the subject.

Ron's jovial look fell, and Hermione shut her book to give him a warning look. "About what?"

"I think Lucius is a git," Scorpius awkwardly burst out, trying to do anything to ease the tension in the room.

"Something we agree on then," Ron cracked a pained smile.

"I was wondering if you know anything about what's going on at Malfoy Manor," Scorpius began slowly. Hermione sat up, Ron's fingers falling from her hair. "I'm worried about my Mum. Lucius is planning something I think, something bad." Rose reached over and gave Scorpius hand a squeeze when he paused to take a breath, "I don't know what's going on and Harry promised me he'd tell me anything he knew."

"I'm not Harry," Ron said pointedly.

"I know, but you could be the only one who can tell me what's going on." Scorpius held his breath as Ron deliberated.

"He's too young and we don't know everything," Hermione murmured to Ron.

"We were too young once," Ron responded. The two adults fell silent, before Hermione laced her fingers through Ron's. "What do you know?"

Scorpius wanted to sigh in relief, "I know that Lucius has been up to something dark, and may have succeeded. He mentioned something about becoming undone..." He trailed off, looking at the adults expectantly.

"We don't know everything," Hermione said, "It's mostly speculation."

"You know about the Second Wizarding War," Ron started, waiting for Scorpius to nod his assent. "Your family was mixed up with Voldemort," he gave a small twitch when he said the name, "and were placed on trial. Your grandmother and father had done small things that ended up clearing them of all charges. Narcissa actually saved Harry's life, apparently." He seemed doubtful of what he was saying. "Your grandfather managed to wile his way out of an Azkaban sentencing, and disappeared three years after the end of the war.

"This is where things start to get muddled. He reappeared a little while after you were born, and somehow convinced his wife to take him back after he left her without a word. Ruddy git. Draco came to Harry and I one day after he visited Lucius..."

_There was a hurried knock on the door one cold February night. Harry glanced up from his baby daughter who was wiggling around on the floor to exchange a confused glance with Ron before he answered the door. They weren't expecting more visitors for dinner, they wanted a quiet affair with their two families. Quiet being a relative term as all five of their children were under five years old. On the doorstep was a disheveled, fearful looking Draco Malfoy._

_"Malfoy," Harry said with a cordial nod._

_"Potter," Draco seemed to cringe, "I need your help."_

_Harry invited him inside a burst of cold air caused Ron to look up, "Malfoy? What are you doing here?"_

_"I unfortunately need your help Weasley. I would have gone somewhere else if I could. It's my father-"_

_"What has that git done now?" Ron spat._

_"I think he's been working with dark magic again. I need you two to know that I am going to do everything to stop him and I'm not entangled in anything he does. I'm forcing him to move into Malfoy Manor again to watch him."_

_Ron wasn't convinced, this was Malfoy, who had blindly followed his father into anything. He narrowed his eyes, no he had to be up to something. Harry however, asked, "Why are you trying making sure that he doesn't succeed?"_

_"He's making some dangerous claims," he said cryptically. "I'm hoping to not involve anyone else in his dealings. Then there's my son. I don't want him growing up like I did, immersed in the Dark Arts."_

_"His name is Scorpius isn't it?" Harry asked._

_Draco nodded, "He's Albus' age."_

_"Let's hope they get along better than we did," Harry gave a small smile._

_"Wait a minute!" Ron cried, "You're up to something Malfoy."_

_"I'm not Weasley; can't you accept that I've actually changed?"_

_"I believe you," Harry interrupted, much to Ron's sheer horror. The only person who believed that Malfoy was assigned to kill Dumbledore, was now trusting him! Draco gave a small nod, before he quickly left the house, disapperating into the night._

_"Are you barking mad?" Ron asked Harry incredulously as he returned to pick up his daughter who was now chewing on a toy._

_"No," Harry simply said after a moment and didn't bother to elaborate._

"That was the last time I spoke to Draco face to face," Ron said. "Harry mentioned that they met at the Ministry once where he begged for the goings on in Malfoy Manor to remain secret, but I don't know anything about that conversation." His tone became more bitter, "He claims its some Head Auror business."

"If I had been downstairs while Draco was around I would have believed him too," Hermione said. "I know it's difficult to put aside past prejudices, but I do believe that Draco wants what's best for you Scorpius."

"What exactly is going on though? What has Lucius been up to?" Scorpius asked.

"We aren't sure," Ron said, "But we think that it is tied to the breakout."

Could his grandfather be responsible for the emptying of the largest wizarding prison? Scorpius thought he was mad enough to do it, but could he accomplish the task alone? Was Ron right and his father was helping him too? He frowned, if he was innocent, why would Draco keep everyone out of the Malfoy home? Perhaps if people were around to investigate he wouldn't have lived in fear of his grandfather. His eyes flicked over to the spot where he had fainted months ago in front of the Weasley's fireplace. That might have never happened if Draco had just allowed other to help him. A silvery stag passed through the wall before Scorpius could gather his thoughts, "Ron come immediately," it said in Harry's voice, "Trouble at Malfoy Manor."

It felt like someone cast a freezing charm on Scorpius. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move. Rose gripped his hand tightly as he watched her father leap up and dash off to grab his wand. With no news of his family, Scorpius could believe that everything was fine. "No news is good news," his mother would say cheerfully. Now, hearing that something had happened, he feared the worst. A moment later, Ron appeared again, yanking on his robes. "Don't do anything rash," Hermione said as she gave Ron a swift kiss.

"Take me with you," Scorpius managed to choke out before Ron could leave the room.

He turned to look at him, his hair sticking straight up in the back, eyes glinting eagerly at the promise of adventure. Ron was excited, Scorpius thought with a sick feeling, excited to fight whatever trouble his family was in. "I can't." Ron finally said to him, before he swiftly disapperated. Scorpius bowed his head and closed his eyes in defeat. He didn't feel Hermione place her arms around him, or Rose pulling his hand into her lap. He couldn't hear Albus' weak murmur that everything would be fine. He still sat unmoving, numbly awaiting any news of his family.

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**A/N: Hey look another cliffhanger! There are some answers in this chapter, but I promise that I'll stop being evil and give some real answers soon. Couple of notes, I'm losing internet access soon for a couple of weeks, so updates might become slightly more sporadic. I'll be writing on my phone though so I won't fall behind in writing. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up very soon! **

**Thanks to my amazing beta, hermione-amelia-rose1479.**

**I figured out how to reply to reviews not through these notes. For anonymous reviewers, I'll still reply to you here.  
Rafolution: I adore Lily and Hugo. I really want them to get to Hogwarts all ready, or write a spin off series for the two of them. I thought for a long time about where Ron and Harry would live in relation to each other. For some odd reason, I kept going back to the idea that they live nearby. In my random head cannon, I imagine that Harry and Ginny moved there first as a way to escape the press. Hermione managed to convince Ron to move closer to them after their children were born as she thought it would be lovely for the children to be able to play with each other whenever without using magical means of transportation. Ron wasn't thrilled about this, but it's grown on him. Yeah, random backstory...**

**Reviews are always loved!**

**Next time: Scorpius discovers what happened at home, and encounters a big change.**


	14. Chapter 14: The Return of the Aurors

**Disclaimer: Consider this disclaimed.**

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Chapter 14: The Return of the Aurors

Time refused to flow correctly. Scorpius watched shadows race across the floor as the sun sank, but at the same time the clock on the wall seemed to move painfully slow. Eventually dusk fell, and Albus ran home to tell Ginny about the afternoon's events. Rose sat by Scorpius' side, her head on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him with her presence, but he barely noticed her unless she shifted. Too many thoughts raced through his brain to notice when Hermione tried to get him to eat dinner, or when Hugo came home asking what had happened.

He closed his eyes as the possibilities of what was occurring at Malfoy Manor danced through his mind. His parents could be hurt, possibly even dead. The thought of Lucius standing over their broken bodies made his stomach turn. What if the trouble ended up turning out better than expected though? Perhaps Lucius would be taken away from the Manor once and for all. Before he could push the thought away, he imagined Lucius dead on the floor, his mangled body still. Scorpius gave a small gasp and forced his eyes open while he felt disgusted with the satisfaction he felt imagining Lucius' death.

Rose jerked awake, "Scorp?" Her voice raspy from sleep.

"Yes?" he said quietly, speaking for the first time in hours.

She shifted to wrap her arms around him, before sighing, "I would say everything will be fine, but it might not." Scorpius stiffened, fighting off his fears, "But I'll be here if anything happens," she continued.

Scorpius returned her hug, "I know." They sat in silence for a moment, before Rose fell back asleep. _It's late_, Scorpius suddenly realized as he glanced outside at the dark sky. A blanket had been placed next to them, and he gently removed himself from Rose's embrace to retrieve it. He tucked it around her, and brushed a piece of hair away from her face before sprawling on the other couch. He tried to get comfortable while he stared at the flickering shadows, but failed to come to terms with the small couch or the turmoil in his mind. What seemed to be a second later, it was daytime. It was a struggle to sit upright as his body protested after being curled up uncomfortably all night. Rose had vanished, the blanket tossed haphazardly over the back of the couch.

Slowly, he made his way into the kitchen to find Rose sitting slumped at the table, while Hugo eyed her critically as he ate. "Good morning Scorpius," he said cordially causing Rose to snap her head up to look at him.

"Come eat something," Rose said, jumping up with more energy than he thought she would have to retrieve some scrambled eggs. Both Weasley siblings pretended they weren't watching him, but Rose made disapproving noises each time he set down his fork until he cleared his plate.

Hermione entered the kitchen, looking as disheveled as the rest of her family. She quickly gave her children a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek as she gathered up their empty dishes. "How are you this morning?" She asked Scorpius as she gave him a hug.

Momentarily flustered by her kindness, it took him a moment longer to answer, "When will we find out what happened at Malfoy Manor?"

He didn't miss Hermione's face fall, "I'm not sure. Ginny and I are planning on taking you children to see Grandmum today so we can find out." He had forgotten that Hermione and Ginny were probably just as worried as he was; they were worrying about Harry and Ron who could be in just as much danger as his own family.

"Excellent," Hugo said, "I was hoping to be able to de-gnome a garden soon as I think I have figured out the most efficient way to confuse them before they are thrown."

"That's lovely," Hermione said distractedly as she cleaned the dishes with her wand.

"After ten years, it still worries me that you think about things like that," Rose remarked as she stood up to leave the table. "I'm going to get ready," she gestured to her clothes that she was still wearing from the previous day, now much more rumpled. "You should probably head back to Al's and do the same."

The painfully bright sunshine woke Scorpius up as he walked back to the Potters with Rose and Hugo by his side. Hermione had sent the three of them off while she joined Ron and Harry. "Beautiful day out today," Hugo remarked, "Excellent for a walk." No one spoke after that, which Scorpius was grateful for. Having the two siblings accompany him prevented his dwelling on recent events, but he wasn't ready to contribute to small talk.

The Potter household was in chaos. James nearly ran them over as they entered the house, his hair sticking up all over the place and his eyes glinting with madness. After a hurried, "Watch it," he vanished up the stairs. Ginny was insisting on braiding Lily's hair despite her cries that if she wanted her hair braided, she would do it herself.

Even Albus was running around like mad. "I can't find any socks!" His voice came from upstairs.

"James, give Al his socks back," Ginny yelled back while tightening Lily's braid. She turned a critical eye on Scorpius, "I'd go get ready. You look a right mess and we are flooing over to my mum's in five minutes."

As Scorpius headed up the stairs to find his bag, he ran into James hiding on the stairs, "We're flooing? Excellent," he grinned wickedly, and Scorpius wondered if Albus was the only one in his family that wasn't mad. Upon entering Albus' room, Scorpius realized they were all off their rockers. Albus' now sock clad feet poked out from underneath his bed while he muttered to himself.

"Morning Al," Scorpius remarked as he went over to his cot which seemed to be the only thing in the room that hadn't been overturned.

"Have you seen my wand?" Albus pushed himself out from underneath his bed, "Dad always says to always have it with you and I lost it."

Scorpius bit back a laugh, "Back pocket."

He twisted around and noticed his wand sticking out of his back pocket, "Right where it should be." Scorpius picked up his bag and headed into the bathroom, shutting the door with a click. It took him a minute to look up from the sink to face himself in the mirror. Ginny was right, he did look like a mess. His blue-grey eyes were ringed with shadows and his hair could possibly be messier than James'. A memory of his father casually seated on the couch drawling that appearances must be kept up at all times forced Scorpius to comb through his hair until it lay flat. _Now I just look like I got run over by a bus and not a train_, he thought with a twisted smile as he left the bathroom ready for the day. He was the last one to come downstairs, but he found the family still rushing about. Rose had pressed herself against the wall as to avoid Albus who was now frantically running about, claiming he had misplaced his toast. No one noticed Hugo quietly munching on said toast sitting next to Lily with her hair freshly braided who was telling her mother she did not need a jacket on a warm summer's day. James took advantage of the chaos to pocket a small vial that Scorpius barely caught a glimpse of. Scorpius stood in the doorway reveling in the madness.

"Let's go!" Ginny cried finally pressing a new piece of toast into Albus' hands. She grabbed the small bag of floo powder off of the counter, "To the Burrow everyone." She gave everyone hugs, "I'll see you tonight."

Each child took a turn flooing to the Burrow. Just before James could step into the fire, Ginny quickly said, "_Accio_ floo powder!" The vial James had pocked earlier flew into her outstretched hand. "Nice try." James frowned, but didn't put up a fight to retrieve his prize as he vanished from sight. Scorpius left after James, sorely tempted to call for Malfoy Manor instead of the Burrow, but a sharp, knowing look from Ginny made him call for the correct house.

It was his second time at the Burrow, and it was just as he remembered it, bright and cozy. Mrs. Weasley released Hugo from a large bear hug, leaving the small boy slightly dazed. "Scorpius!" She immediately caught him up in a hug that crushed his lungs, only to release him when Lily tumbled out of the fireplace. Giving a small cough to try to restore the air to his lungs, Scorpius looked around the room only to notice that there was another Weasley cousin in the room. Lucy sat on the couch, staring at them over the pages of the book in her hands. Her face was impassive, but he noticed her fingers tightening around the cover.

"I'd love to de-gnome the garden today," Hugo piped up as soon as he managed to recover. Scorpius had to resist the urge to shake the boy and question his mental stability.

Mrs. Weasley however beamed, "I wish Ron had your attitude when he was your age! The rest of you lot, stay out of trouble, I'm working on making dinner for tonight." She and Hugo left the room to head out to the garden.

"I'm off to get into trouble," James said with a smirk before sidling out of the room.

"I'm going to make sure he gets into trouble for whatever he's up to," Lily said with a wicked smirk before following him.

The three remaining new arrivals awkwardly looked around the room while Lucy turned her eyes to remain fixated on the book. "What is wrong with you?" Scorpius finally burst out. He was tired of Lucy avoiding them, what was the past year to her? Weren't they friends?

She shut the book with a snap, "Did it ever occur to you that I have better things to do than hang out with you lot all the time?"

"Nope," Albus said, earning him a dirty look from her.

"I'm a third year," she said, standing up straight, gripping her book so tightly her fingers turned white. "I have other friends who are much more fun than you, and they actually care what I'm going through in my own life. It's not about grades, Quidditch, or how your life is bloody terrible all the time," she sniffed. "Rose, give up on your boy fantasies for goodness sakes, who would want you? Albus, no you will never be as good as your father, and Scorpius you aren't as bad as the rest of your family. You're so bloody annoying that you're worse." She stomped away until they heard a door slam in the distance.

There was a moment of shocked silence before Rose gave a muffled sob and ran from the room. Albus took at seat on the couch that Lucy vacated, looking pale. Scorpius watched him stare off into space, "Al, am I really that bad?"

He glanced over, "You do have some self-esteem issues," he said bluntly. Scorpius scowled, and left the room feeling even more annoyed.

Somehow, he found his way into the garden, where Hugo seemed to be doing some odd dance with a gnome. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" Scorpius asked irritably as he dropped onto a bench.

"Making them dizzy," Hugo panted before spinning on the spot and launching the gnome. It flew fairly far, and Scorpius watched as it attempted to stand but instead face planted and lay still. "It takes them a long while before they get up again, and usually after that they stay away longer." Hugo picked up another gnome and began to make it dizzy. After launching the next one, the younger boy spoke, "Something's bothering you." It was a statement, not a question.

"How do you do that?" Scorpius asked, a bit sharper than usual.

"Notice things?" Hugo asked, wiping dirt off his hands.

"I guess you could call it that."

Hugo sat down in the dirt, contemplating the question. "I guess that I've always been more observant. The joke in the family is that somehow I'm all the good qualities of my parents and managed to miss the temper. I note all the little things that people do, the things that are said in passing around me because I am just a child, and make conclusions off of that. Mum would memorize everything, Rose is the same. I just understand everything, it all makes sense.

"You, for example, are annoyed with Lucy. I'm assuming Rose and Al are too. I'm not sure why you are annoyed though," Hugo tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, "Something harsh but with some truth in it judging by your defensive position." Scorpius shifted, how would the way he was sitting tell the boy that? "Hm. I'd forget about Lucy though, she's a lost cause."

"A lost cause?" Scorpius asked curiously, momentarily forgetting his anger.

"Yes, I thought maybe with your influence she could turn her life around. Too stubborn to change I suppose."

"What's her deal? You know?"

Hugo gave him an incredulous look, "What don't I know?" Scorpius sincerely hoped he didn't know much about the events at the end of last year. "Let me tell you a little about Lucy. She's the youngest in her family, and Molly has always overshadowed her. In looks, schooling, everything. Her parents adore both of them, but Molly was perfect first, Lucy just follows after. She's expected to be perfect, and she resents Molly for that. In addition to that pressure, she's often dropped off here. Molly is supposed to be watching her this summer, but she's working at the Ministry along with her parents. They love her, and her family life is fine, but she's just overlooked. Second best daughter, left alone most of the time, generally ignored by her extended family due to her uptight nature." Hugo paused and gave a shrug, "Add that to the Weasley temper and you get a lot of unnecessary rage."

"How do you know that?" Scorpius dumbly asked.

"Listening. Try it sometime," Hugo smirked.

"So griping about our troubles just makes Lucy feel worse then?" Scorpius realized.

"Exactly. She's too caught up in her own problems to think straight, I'd beware." Hugo snatched up a gnome that had just wandered to close. "By the way, you are much better than the rest of your family, and you really should work on not being so down on yourself." He turned back to the gnome that was attempting to bite his fingers.

Scorpius watched the bizarre boy fling gnomes until Mrs. Weasley called them in for lunch. Lucy quickly grabbed some food and left while Mrs. Weasley gave a worried look at her retreating back. Rose kept her head down, hiding her puffy eyes. Lily and Hugo carried most of the conversation due to the silence of the three second years. Lily had lost James soon after she began following him and no one had seen him since. Instead she spent her morning flying around the Quidditch pitch. Mrs. Weasley tried to get her older grandchildren children to speak, but received single word answers. Scorpius was trying very hard to be cheerful despite Rose and Albus' obviously dower moods. He would prove that he wasn't all focused on problems. He complimented the meal and offered to clean up which Mrs. Weasley declined with a smile.

After everyone finished eating, Albus followed Lily to go look for James while Scorpius took off after Rose. He found her in an upstairs room, laying on a very ratty looking Chudley Cannons bedspread. "This was Dad's room," she said as Scorpius made a disgusted face at the decor. "He's a bit of a fan." Scorpius sat down next to her and waited for Rose to speak. "It's silly that I got upset over what Lucy said," Rose said quietly. "It hurts when you tell someone something in confidence and they just fling it back into your face like that."

"Do you er- want to talk about it?" He asked awkwardly. That was what girls said right? He felt ridiculous as the words came out of his mouth.

Rose gave him an amused look, "No I don't."

"I spoke to your brother for a bit," Scorpius said to continue some conversation.

"Did he make you feel like an idiot?" Rose smiled.

"He can say hello and make me feel like an idiot," Scorpius laughed. He didn't bother to elaborate though, he didn't want to mention the comments about his family and himself.

The door burst open, and Albus stomped inside, "First I have to deal with Lucy being a prat and then James goes and figures out a way to get some of Uncle George's test products, Merlin knows how."

"What did he do to you?" Rose asked, quickly examining him for any problems.

"Gave me a stupid product that's not finished yet, made me sing everything I said. Lily and James were in tears laughing. Thank Merlin that Grandmum could reverse that." He shivered.

He joined the two on the bed, stretching out to pretend to kick Scorpius off of the bed. Scorpius shoved his foot away and lay on his stomach claiming his spot. Rose smoothed his rumpled hair and he felt his eyes drift shut at the comforting touch. He didn't really sleep last night and he was tired, so tired. "Dad!" Albus cried, actually shoving Scorpius off the bed. Judging by the sun's position, the three of them had been sleeping for a few hours. Albus leapt over Scorpius' body on the floor to give his dad a hug. Scorpius blinked, yes Harry Potter really was standing in the room.

"What happened?" Albus asked eagerly.

"Is everything alright with my family?" Scorpius asked his voice rough from sleep.

"The prisoners, did you catch any?" Rose yawned.

"Come downstairs, I'll tell you all," Harry responded, and Scorpius nearly screamed at him to tell him straightaway what had happened. The three of them followed Harry downstairs to where the rest of the occupants of the Burrow- minus Lucy- were sitting. Mrs. Weasley was fussing over a scrape on Ron's arm while Hermione gripped his free hand tightly.

"Ouch, really Mum. Couldn't you use something more gentle?" She gave him a sharp look.

Scorpius couldn't handle it any longer, "What happened to my family?"

"They're fine," Ginny responded. "They actually want you to come home tonight." Relief flooded him, and he collapsed back into his seat. Fine. Everything was going to be fine.

"What about the prisoners?" Rose asked, "Wasn't there a lead?"

"It took us to Malfoy Manor actually," Harry said, and suddenly Scorpius wasn't feeling so relieved. "We received an anonymous tip off that Lucius was in contact with the escapees and possibly helped them escape in the first place. We watched his movements for sometime before determining that he had no visible connection to them and we couldn't do anything. Then yesterday he got ah, violent when he discovered us watching." Ron hissed as Mrs. Weasley put too much pressure to the wound on his arm. "We stepped in and that's when I called for back up. He made some ridiculous claims about pureblood supremacy, and shot off a few spells, but everyone is okay."

Scorpius wasn't surprised that his grandfather didn't take kindly to the presence of the Weasleys and Potters, but was very relieved that he hadn't lost his mind to the point that he had started firing off random killing curses. "Your parents are eager to see you Scorpius," Ginny said, standing up and pressing a small bag of floo powder into his hands. "We took your things back already, and if you are ready to leave, then you can go."

After the events of the past few days, Scorpius was very much ready to go home. He had enjoyed spending time with his friends but the way he had abruptly left his family still left him unsettled even after hearing everything was fine. "I'd like to go home." He quickly said good-byes to his friends and thank you to the adults before stepping into the flames. It took a moment for him to gain the courage to call "Malfoy Manor." He stepped out into the familiar room, and took off jogging as he looked for his parents. He wouldn't believe that they were alright until he saw it in person. The house was eerily silent as he ran through it. Looking through the usual rooms, even boldly poking his head into his grandfather's study to see if they had been trapped in there. Thankfully, the only thing he found in that room was an empty desk.

"Mum?" Scorpius cried, his voice echoing through the house. He listened for any noise, but after his voice faded he only heard silence. "Dad?" Still nothing. Feeling panicked, he ran through the kitchen and his parents' room again. Was Harry lying? Had his parents been taken away from the house? Were they not alright after all? He tried not to think that they were dead as he ran back downstairs. As a last resort he ventured out onto the grounds. Far away in the distance, he saw two people leaning up against a tree, a blond and a brunette. He sprinted down towards them, until he could see them leaning up against their inscribed tree, Draco's arm flung causally over Astoria's shoulders while he smirked at her. Astoria looked up to see him running and beamed at him, catching him in a hug. He returned the hug, relieved to see them alive.

"They're gone," She said, grinning up at him.

"Who?" Scorpius asked, as his eyes flickered between his parents who seemed much more relaxed than he could ever remember seeing.

"My parents," Draco answered simply. It was as if all of his favorite holidays had occurred at the same time. Lucius was gone? His mother's smile and his father's smirk seemed wider than usual. The two of them almost had a lightness about them, as if a weight had been lifted.

Scorpius dropped into the grass next to them, "Really?"

"Really," Astoria confirmed. Maybe his life was looking up Scorpius thought as a silly grin spread across his face. Perhaps he could find a little peace in his life after all.

* * *

**A/N: Well, I hope I gave you some closure before I vanish for a couple weeks. I'm moving and will be without internet for a while, but don't forget about me! I hope to be able to continue writing through the chaos so I can post as soon as I can.**

**Thanks to my fantastic beta, hermione-amelia-rose1479 who really helped me out with the ending here!**

**Also, thanks to those who have reviewed, favorited, and marked this story on alert. You keep me going. :)**

**Please review! It really makes my day brighter. I'd absolutely love to hear what you think of Hugo the genius and the return of Lucy.**

**Next time: Changes occur around Malfoy Manor, and Alice, Rose and Albus pay a visit.**

**See you mid July!**


	15. Chapter 15: The Lazy Days of Summer

**Disclaimer: I wish it was mine...**

**This chapter is dedicated to my amazing friends who told me to keep writing no matter what.**

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Chapter 15: Lazy Days of Summer

_This is how life should be_, Scorpius thought as he lay sprawled out in the sunshine a few days after he returned home. His life had returned to something that resembled a faded memory of his life before his grandparents moved in. His parents were conversing loudly inside and he could hear them through an open window. "Why are you making the walls that color?" Draco drawled, "It's ugly."

"I really should listen to you because of your impeccable decorating skills," Astoria countered. Scorpius could imagine the dark look on her face.

"This is _my_ house. Those are _my_ walls."

"I thought that what was yours is mine?" Curious to see in person what was going on, he pushed himself off of the ground and joined his parents who were standing in the middle of a very sunny looking room. Astoria had slowly been redecorating the drab Malfoy Manor, trying to bring some of the summer sunshine inside. The walls had been changed to a pale yellow, which Draco was eyeing with disgust.

"Fine it's yours, but can't I have some input? I don't want to have my house look like a woman threw up all over it." He waved his wand, and the walls turned to an olive green. "Livable?"

"I like yellow. What if we combined the two?" The walls turned a sickly yellow green.

"Now it really looks like someone threw up all over," Scorpius said with a grin from the doorway. His mother frowned as she returned the walls to yellow while Draco cracked a smile.

"You sure you aren't a Hufflepuff, Greengrass? You seem to have gone soft and developed a liking for yellow."

"I'm just as conniving as I used to be, Malfoy," she whispered dangerously as Draco's smirk grew more pronounced.

"I'm getting away from you mental Slytherins," Scorpius muttered as he quickly left the room and wove his way into the entry hall. It easily was his new favorite room in the house. The dark drapes had been torn away from the windows for light to stream in. The giant crystal chandelier had been cleaned so that the light cast thousands of rainbows dancing on the walls. He climbed the spiral staircase up to his room, which now was missing the snake detailing along the banisters.

His room had actually been decorated according to his own tastes and not family tradition. The green paint had been replaced with a tan color that almost seemed gold in the sunlight. The large Gryffindor banner that he received for Christmas hung from one of the walls, but the massive four poster bed exactly like the one at school was the focus of his room. Scorpius went over to his desk that had been placed in one corner and began to write four letters. His parents- mostly Astoria, Draco had made a face- suggested that he invite his friends over to the Manor now that it was a friendlier place. They hadn't mentioned the idea again, and Scorpius was afraid that they would change their minds; it was to write without asking again.

He addressed the identical letters inviting his friends to Malfoy Manor in two days, but added to the end of Lucy's, "Hope that you've come to your senses." As he watched Ceres fly away, he couldn't help but worry that perhaps he sounded a bit insensitive. With the way that Lucy had been acting the last time he saw her, it seemed unlikely that one letter would change her mind. He leaned against the open window frame watching his owl vanish into the setting sun.

"Scorp!" Came his mother's voice, magnified by magic, "Dinner!" He slammed his window shut and took a running start to slide down the railings. His mother had insisted on family dinners now that it was just the three of them when his father was home from the Ministry in time for dinner. The dining room had also received a makeover, the walls were now a soft white that seemed to glow in comparison to the dark table in the middle. Draco sat at the head, watching his wife magically serve food to the three plates.

Scorpius took his place across the table from his mother, "Did you finally stop arguing over what color looked best?"

"Yes," Astoria responded with a smile while Draco made a face, "No."

Scorpius shook his head and dug into his food absolutely ravenous. "Just because you are a growing boy doesn't mean you eat like you have no manners," Draco scolded him. Scorpius glanced over at him and made a show to slurp the end of his noodles. "That kind of behavior would have led to punishment when I was young," his father said, giving him a cold glance. Scorpius refused to look away until his mother gave a small snort of laughter and his father's lips twitched.

"I invited my friends over in two days," Scorpius said. It was best to mention that news while his parents were in a good mood.

"There's so much to do before they come!" Astoria said, turning a critical eye on the cabinets that lined one wall which still housed a number of dark objects she hadn't been able to get rid of. "You should have given me more warning."

Draco looked pained, "They are coming _here_?"

"We've already discussed this Draco," Astoria gave him a murderous glare which made him shrink back. "You will be a perfect gentleman to those children."

"Even though they are the children of Potter, Weasley, Granger and Longbottom?" He groaned, giving his food an angry stab with his fork.

"Especially because of that. You owe their parents Draco," he glared at his plate while Astoria spoke. "Be mature about this."

"I'll be mature," he muttered. Scorpius felt some doubt that his father would actually do so.

"You might not even see them. Will they be staying for dinner Scorp?"

Scorpius shrugged, he hadn't thought about that, "I dunno."

"They can stay," Draco said reluctantly, "I'll be good."

Astoria kissed his cheek as she snagged their empty places to take back to the kitchen after they had finished eating, "Good."

After she left the room, Draco looked at Scorpius who had purposely remained quiet while his mother talked his father down. "Are your friends anything like their parents?"

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked quietly. Relations between the Malfoys, Potters and Weasleys were not as volatile, but his father didn't enjoy associating with them still. He may not be a true pureblood elitist anymore, but he would never count blood traitors amongst his friends. _Even though he asks them for favors_, Scorpius thought as he remembered Ron's story.

"Do they go rushing into trouble without a second thought because they are noble, bold idiots who don't think about their safety?"

They did tend to rush into things without thinking, that was true. Despite the negative tone that his father used while talking about them, Scorpius responded boldly with, "If that's how their parents were, then they are exactly the same."

Draco stood up towering over him, "I don't know how you managed to grow a spine. Must be the Greengrass in you. Go on now, I need to continue to argue that yellow isn't an acceptable wall color with your mother." Scorpius left the room feeling that somehow he had managed to earn some respect from his father. When he got back to his room he found three letters waiting for him each containing a confirmation that they would be there. By the end of the next day, Scorpius had given up on hearing from Lucy. _If she didn't want to talk to us that's her problem_, he thought sourly.

xXx

"SCORP!" Scorpius found himself jerking awake two days later to someone bouncing up and down on his bed. He groaned and threw his pillow over his head. It was much to early for anyone to be so chipper. Actually, it was much too early for anyone to be waking him up in such a violent manner. The pillow was torn out of his hands and Scorpius sleepily looked up into the round face of Alice Longbottom. "Why are you still sleeping silly? Didn't you get my owl saying that I'd be here early? I guess that you didn't since I just woke you up. Your hair is a disaster! Is it always that messy when you wake up? It's kinda cute though, if you like that kind of thing."

"Alice," Scorpius croaked, "I will be very happy to see you when I'm more awake, but for now, _shut up_."

"You also have terrible morning breath," Alice added.

Scorpius gave her a dark look, "Get out." Something in his expression must have shown how serious he was as Alice quickly left his room, shutting the door behind her. He stared at the closed door for a moment before falling backwards on his bed with a groan.

"You better be getting up!" Alice called happily through the door.

A few minutes later, a more awake and cheerful Scorpius emerged from his room. "Much better," Alice said, quickly appraising him. She flattened his hair a bit, "You've grown. About time, I thought you would be a midget forever. Now you're only a kind of midget."

"Are you going to insult me all day?" Scorpius asked while the two of them walked downstairs towards the smell of breakfast cooking.

"Nope, but it's been so long since I've seen you I just have to tell you everything that I've noticed!" She said in a rush.

"You do that anyways," Scorpius muttered as they found a pile of waffles waiting in the kitchen.

"Hello again Alice!" Astoria said with a smile, "I see that you managed to drag him out of bed."

"It was difficult, but apparently insulting him wakes him up." She grabbed a plate and sat down, tucking a foot underneath her while the other swung aimlessly. Scorpius shrugged when his mother gave him a questioning look that clearly said, _is she always like this_? "I love your house by the way. I thought Malfoy Manor would be all frightening and creepy, but this is pretty!"

Astoria beamed at her, "Thank you. I've tried to make the place a bit more cheerful." With Alice's comment about his mum's decorating, Scorpius knew that she had immediately won over his mum's affection.

"I have to deal with Potty and Weasels' children today?" Draco grumbled as he entered the kitchen. He froze when he noticed Alice sitting at the table, staring at him with her mouth open in shock. Scorpius looked down at his plate, trying to hide from the awkward situation, waiting for someone to break the silence.

Neither moved until Alice managed to compose herself and look back over at Scorpius, "You look exactly alike!"

Scorpius shook his head, he may have the same color hair as his father, but the similarities ended there. "I look middle aged?" He said cooly as he took a drink of water.

His father managed to plaster an obviously false smile on his face as he grabbed an apple and quickly said good-bye to Astoria and Scorpius. He even managed to jerk his head in Alice's direction in acknowledgement before heading outside to apparate to work. "I don't think he will ever get rid of his past prejudices entirely," Astoria said wearily as she watched her husband disappear, "but he's come a long way."

"I don't mind," Alice piped up. "Who cares what others think of them." The spark in her eyes dimmed for a moment and her voice quieted, "Besides, I think he will come around someday."

Before either Malfoy could ask her what exactly she meant, there was a bang from the room next door. Scorpius left his breakfast to peer into the pale yellow room to see Rose picking herself off of the ground. "I'm going to kill that boy!" A second later James and Albus tumbled out of the green flames.

James yanked the bag of floo powder out of Albus' hands before he could get back to his feet. He jumped into the flames with a yell of "Leaky Cauldron!" Just before he vanished he gave a small wave.

"Mum's going to kill me," Albus groaned as Alice hurried over to help him up.

"I'm going to kill James!" Rose cried again, holding up her scraped up hands. "He pushed me into the fireplace when he stole the powder."

"He's been going crazy still?" Scorpius asked. After James' last attempt to steal floo powder, Scorpius wasn't surprised to see him finally succeed in escaping.

"Yeah, he's probably has already found Fred and they have run off to cause some trouble. Mum probably is already trying to catch them."

"At least whatever they end up getting into will be amusing," Alice said attempting to cheer Albus up.

"I was supposed to make sure he didn't get the powder though," Albus said with a sad shake of his head.

Astoria poked her head into the room, "Do any of you want breakfast?"

"I'm famished!" Albus suddenly cheered up at the prospect of food and hurried into the kitchen. Scorpius hung back for a moment with Rose and Alice who had begun whispering to each other. When the two of them noticed that Scorpius was still in the room, they glared at him until he quickly left the room. He had no idea what they were talking about, probably something girly. They could have at least told him to leave instead of just silently kicking him out.

He joined Albus at the table and watched his friend pile waffles onto his plate. "What's going to happen now that James is loose?" Albus shrugged as he took a large bite and sighed in contentment. There wasn't a sound from the room where the girls were talking in, which made him nervous. "What are the girls talking about?" Scorpius tried again.

Surprisingly, Albus laughed, "They're _girls_."

"Yeah, so?" He didn't like that Albus made it sound like he should know what that meant.

"If they want you to know what they are talking about, then they'll tell you. If they don't want you to know, keep out. I found out that Lily thought that a boy at the market was cute and it took ages for Mum to get me out of the tree Lily somehow got me stuck in." Albus shuddered and took a large bite. "Did you live under a rock?" He managed to say through his food.

"No, he was raised here," Astoria said, raising one eyebrow, her comment reminding the boys that they weren't alone in the room.

"It's lovely here," Rose said as she and Alice strolled into the room. "I hate to bother you Mrs. Malfoy, but do you have anything to help my hands? I fell out of the floo." Apparently she didn't want to publicize the fact that James had shoved her. Trying to sound mature about it Scorpius supposed.

Rose's charm worked on Astoria who immediately whipped out her wand, "I am a trained healer. It's not problem." The skin on Rose's hands seemed to crawl back over the scrapes.

"That's a handy spell," she said in awe, wiggling her fingers as she stared at her now flawless skin. "Why aren't you working as a healer now?"

"I never took the final exams. I'm a trained healer, just not licensed." Astoria pocketed her wand with a smile. "Life turned out differently than I expected." Scorpius had known that she had tried to become a healer, but he had never been able to discover the reason why she had stopped.

"You done shoving your face full of food Al?" Alice said, shoving his plate away from him before he could help himself to another serving.

"I guess," he glared at Alice before smiling at Astoria, "That was fantastic. Thanks."

"Excellent. Could we go outside?" Rose asked quickly, not bothering to wait for a response before grabbing Scorpius' arm and dragging him outside to the gardens. From the indignant noise that Albus made, it sounded as though Alice had taken a hold of him.

"What are you doing?" Scorpius yanked his arm out of her grasp. "Stop being all secretive and just tell me what's going on."

"He's got a point," Albus said, trying to twist free of Alice. The smaller boy couldn't break her grasp. Scorpius would have laughed at his flailing if he wasn't impatiently waiting for Rose to speak.

Alice finally grew bored with holding Albus in place, causing him to nearly tumble into a planter when she let go. "This is a beautiful garden," Alice said as Albus clambered to his feet for the second time of the day. "Did your mother put it together? Wait, does Draco garden? I don't think that he is the gardening type, but it would be amusing-"

"My Mum did most of it," Scorpius interrupted. "I helped a bit." He took a seat on an overturned flowerpot, "Why did you drag us out here?"

"I wanted to make sure your mum wouldn't overhear us," Rose said, looking apologetic.

"Next time do it gently," Albus grumbled, flipping over an empty pot to use as his own chair.

"Rose heard from Hugo that something else that happened during the day that the Aurors got called to Malfoy Manor," Alice began. "We weren't sure if we should tell you what she heard-"

"What happened?" The details about what happened at the Manor the day that his grandfather were fuzzy. He knew there was a fight, and that in the end his grandfather left. Not much to go off of.

"Your grandfather wasn't the only one who was at the Manor that day. There were others, the escaped prisoners," Rose said.

"So Lucius is working with them." It wasn't exactly a surprise that this was the case. Scorpius already knew that his grandfather was twisted, it wasn't that large of a leap to determine that he could be behind the largest Azkaban breakout ever.

"That's not all." Rose lowered her voice, "They said that they had been cured, that they figured it out. Remember how you said that your grandfather seemed deranged? He spoke to the Aurors and was calm. He didn't seem insane at all until the escaped prisoners all appeared and started shooting off spells."

A chill ran up his spine. His grandfather was sane? The idea of Lucius in complete control of his mind was much more frightening than the crazed man that Scorpius had seen before he had fled to the Potters. "Why do I have the feeling that there's more?"

"I know that your father is being examined by the Ministry to see if he has any involvement with Lucius-"

"Of course he doesn't," Scorpius interrupted Rose. "He thinks Lucius is a nutter."

"He didn't always think that way," Alice said gently. "They just want to make sure."

"There's more isn't there?" Albus said when he saw that the girls still looked somber.

"A couple people were hit with dark spells," Rose said. "An Auror, and your mum Scorp."

"What does the spell do?" Scorpius whispered. He could remember his grandfather showing him a book of dark spells soon after he had moved in with hopes of having Scorpius turning to the dark. The gruesome pictures made his stomach turn until he fled from the room after his grandfather gleefully showed him a potion that would cause a person to explode- complete with an illustration. That day was probably when Lucius deemed him a lost cause.

"No one knows," Alice said helplessly. "When they examined her, it was obvious that she'd been hit by dark magic, but there's no symptoms, nothing."

"Which could be a good thing, maybe the spell was fake," Rose quickly said.

Scorpius shook his head, "I wish I could think that way."

"Hey, if that's it, how about we go do something fun?" Albus said. Alice shrugged and followed Albus as he began to head towards the trees declaring that they were going on an adventure. Leave it to Albus to not be concerned at all with the news that the girls brought.

"We don't have to go," Rose said. She had remained standing loyally next to him while he glared at Albus' retreating back.

"No, you came here to have fun. Let's go." He said with a sigh as he stood up. The two of them trailed behind while Alice and Albus argued about which way they should go inside the forest.

The four of them spent most of the day running outside in the sun, only returning for a quick lunch before venturing back outside to play Quidditch. Ginny appeared around five that evening with a vice like grip on James' arm to keep him from running away. "Albus!"

Albus gave a nervous twitch, "It wasn't my fault!" He called back as the four of them landed in front of her, each shouldering their brooms.

"I know," Ginny said, trying to soften her tone. "I'm here to take you all home."

"Me too?" Alice piped up, Ginny gave a nod. Scorpius slowly led the way back into his house, did they have to leave already? He would have asked for them to stay if Ginny was in a better mood. Much too soon, Ginny and James flooed away while Scorpius said good bye to his friends. Alice left first, bounding forward to kiss him on the cheek before grabbing a pinch of powder from the bag in Albus' hands.

Rose gave him a quick hug, "Don't go getting into any more adventures until school." As usual Rose couldn't leave without telling him to be careful.

"I think I might manage that," he responded with a smile. The frown on her face changed into a smile before she vanished into the flames.

"I'll see you soon," Albus simply said before he stepped into the spot that Rose had been in seconds before. The green flames rushed upwards and engulfed him.

xXx

As promised, Scorpius had a quiet summer. His grandfather didn't appear, there weren't any sightings of escaped prisoners, and his mother didn't seem to be affected by any dark magic. Things were quiet. The most interesting thing that happened the remaining month of summer was his parent's fight about what color to paint their room. Which led to a spell going awry and covering the three Malfoys in purple paint that wouldn't come off for days.

"Scorpius! Get up now!" Scorpius opened his heavy eyes as he tried to figure out why his mother was calling up to him. After blinking sleepily for a moment, his eyes managed to focus on his packed trunk in the corner. Suddenly filled with energy, he launched himself out of bed to run downstairs for breakfast. The sooner he finished getting ready the sooner he could get to King's Cross and leave to begin his second year of school.

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**A/N: Hey everyone. It took all my free time the past few weeks to write this chapter. Moving has been _such_ a pain. Really, I could write a novel on everything that has gone wrong recently. I have internet now, but I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter up until my life is somewhat in order. In other, happier news, this chapter marks 100 pages in this story and we haven't even started Scorp's second year. This might be much longer than I thought. Wow.**

**Thank you for all your kind reviews, they all made me smile when I finally got to log back on.**

**Rafolution- Hi again! :D I wouldn't exactly call it a prologue, but now that I go back and read the ending of the last chapter that would have been a great place for a time skip. Second year is fairly short though... Maybe around five chapters tops?**

**Thanks again to my super, fantastic, amazing beta, ****hermione-amelia-rose1479.**

******If I use my best puppy dog eyes will you review? Please? It makes this sad writer much happier. :)**

******Next time: Back to Hogwarts! There will be drama, broken rules, and changes will occur. James acts up, Lucy lashes out, Albus is oblivious as usual and then there's what Alice is doing...**


	16. Chapter 16: Secrets

**Disclaimer: **

**There once was a girl**

**who read an amazing book**

**that inspired her to write**

**once it got her on a hook.**

**The girl however did not**

**make everything her own**

**instead she borrowed characters**

**so her craft she could hone.**

**She hopes that you all remember**

**that this isn't her original work**

**and to please leave a review**

**as that's her favorite perk.**

**:)**

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Chapter 16: Secrets

The four second years had spread themselves around a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Albus took up an entire bench, laying down so that the top of his head and the bottom of his feet touched each wall. Alice lay on the floor, sometimes watching Albus' amusing reactions as he nibbled on some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans other times staring at the ceiling while humming. Rose held a book loosely in her hands as she leaned her head on Scorpius' shoulder. Scorpius was a bit confused about the current situation. The four friends had started off the journey back to Hogwarts in high spirits, Albus had treated all of them to endless sweets. Rose and Alice were giggling about something at one point. Scorpius had been very tense during the beginning of the journey as the look on his mother's face kept bugging him. She knew something was wrong. It seemed as though she was about to tell him to stay home, to stay safe, but eventually let him join his friends.

Now he felt drained, as if he couldn't care what happened to anyone. The book fell from Rose's hands with a thunk as she drooped into sleep. Scorpius dimly was aware that he should keep her from awkwardly slumping but he was so tired. Alice stopped humming, but kept her eyes blankly staring at the ceiling. Was she sleeping with her eyes open? The compartment door open, and Albus seemed to struggle for a moment before managing to push himself off of the seat and snag the end of something before he fell onto the floor. Silvery fabric appeared in Albus' hands as he yanked off the invisibility cloak off of James and Fred.

"Don't mess with me," Albus mumbled as he tried to sit up. "What'd you _do_?"

James pulled his cloak out of Albus' limp hands, "This is what we have been planning for ages now. The ultimate blackmail prank." With a sigh, he pulled out a couple of vials. One was full of clear liquid while the other seemed empty. After twisting the stopper off of the empty vial, James waved it in front of each of their faces. Scorpius took a deep breath as his vision suddenly cleared and he no longer felt the need to fall asleep.

Albus returned to his seat, glaring at his brother and cousin, "I knew you guys were going to try something. Nice try with sneaking in, but you were too obvious. You don't know how to sneak around at all."

"Like you are better than them," Alice said in a daze as she sat up, blinking slowly.

Rose jerked awake next to Scorpius and whipped out her wand before she fully realized what was going on. "I knew that someone was behind all of us falling asleep." Scorpius eyed her warily, her proximity put her wand a little too close to his face. He didn't exactly want to be anywhere near an angry Rose and her wand.

Fred seemed to have thought the same thing, "Now Rosie, wouldn't you like to hear what we were going to do before you hex us?" Rose gave a head jerk for him to continue. "We just wanted to make sure that we could escape some detentions and house point deductions this year. Try to win the house cup. We came up with the idea of filling each compartment with the fumes of a couple different sleeping potions. Just enough to knock you out for us to use this."

James held up the vial with the clear liquid, "A form of Veritaserum that with one drop will cause the person to divulge their deepest secret. We wait for the occupants of whatever compartment we knocked out to wake up and suddenly we have the perfect blackmail." Scorpius couldn't deny that it was a cleaver trick. If it had been successful though, what would he have blurted out? He couldn't exactly think of anything off the top of his head. The other three however, had grown very pale.

"If you dare try that again, I will not hesitate to send you guys to St. Mungo's babbling like idiots," Much to everyone's surprise, Alice was speaking. "How could you do something so awful? Don't say that you are trying to keep yourselves from losing house points. You are trying to discover things people don't want you to know. Don't want anyone to know." Alice jabbed at the two third years with her wand, "Who have you already stolen secrets from?"

At least James and Fred had the decency to look somewhat ashamed. "Mostly everyone," James said.

"_Obliviate_!" James and Fred's eyes slid out of focus as Rose pointed her wand at the two.

"What were we doing?" Fred asked in a daze.

"Leaving," Albus said stonily before pointing them out of the room and slamming the door behind them.

As he was the only one who wasn't distraught over the idea of nearly having his deepest secret spilled, Scorpius spoke first after the troublemakers left. "That was some really advanced magic Rose."

Rose gave him a small smile without meeting his eyes, "Mum's good with memory charms. She taught me the theory in case I ever get into a scrape before we learn about it in school. Those two hopefully won't remember anyone's secrets."

"It's a good thing that I caught them," Albus shivered. "James would never shut up if he'd heard what I might have spouted, but I wasn't half as panicked as you were Alice."

The Hufflepuff girl glared as Albus in a way reminiscent of Lucy, "I don't like people rooting around in my business." She fell uncharacteristically silent.

"We should probably get ready," Rose mumbled as she glanced outside at the darkened landscape.

The train pulled into the station a few minutes later and the four friends left their compartment to join the mass of unusually quiet students. "I may have made James and Fred forget what they heard," Rose whispered to Albus, "but it seems the other students remember." They passed a couple of bickering fifth years who seemed to be upset about the secrets they had spilled. Near the door to exit the train, James and Fred had been cornered by Lucy. With her red hair sticking out nearly as much as Rose's did and her glasses knocked askew, she had a dangerous look about her.

"What do you mean you don't remember?" Lucy spat, "How could you forget my secret? I've already modified the memories of those in my compartment, but they keep looking at me in disgust even though they don't know why."

"What did we do?" James said, with a look of alarm.

"We have no clue what you are talking about," Fred insisted.

"I took care of them Lucy," Rose said quietly.

Lucy spun around, her dark eyes framed with shadows, "What did you do?" Scorpius noticed that she kept her wand pointed at the two boys while Rose confirmed that their memories were modified. Only after Rose finished speaking did Lucy lower her wand, "Get lost," she commanded the two cousins in her year. They nearly fell flat on their faces as they fled from their frightening cousin. Without another word, Lucy shoved her wand in one of her robe pockets and began to exit the train.

Scorpius didn't realize that he was running after her until he managed to catch up to her and blurt, "Stop it."

"Stop what?" She glared at him, but he was used to glares and frightening people.

"I dunno why you changed at the end of the year, but if you'd tell us what's wrong-"

"No," Lucy cut him off sharply, but then seemed to curl up on herself. "Scorp," she said pitifully and he noticed that the thirteen year old seemed sick and close to tears.

"Let me help," he pressed.

She seemed to waver for a moment but Rose came running up. At Rose's appearance, her face darkened, "Stay away from me. Don't talk to me ever again." She left with a dramatic sweep of her robes.

"I nearly had her!" Scorpius rounded on Rose with a frown. "Why couldn't you have stayed away for one more minute?"

"Because I was worried about you!" Rose snapped. "Besides, why do you care about her after the awful things she's said?"

The question caught him off guard. "She is- was- my friend," he said lamely. The sudden realization struck him, why he kept going after Lucy and what his deepest secret were went hand in hand. Before he could fully understand his reasoning, Albus and Alice caught up and led them to a carriage drawn by creatures that appeared to look like dark winged horses.

"Thestrals," Albus quickly climbed into the carriage so that he couldn't see them anymore. "Only visible to those who have witnessed death." The ride up to the castle was a quiet one after Albus' announcement. Eventually the students filed into the Great Hall for the sorting. Scorpius avoided acknowledging Bryce's rude gestures that were directed towards him. The first years that lined up at the front of the hall seemed upset. A few appeared to be crying.

"James must have gotten them too," Albus whispered. "Does he have any limits?"

Professor Garrott placed the Sorting Hat at the front of the hall before returning to his place at the staff's table. There was a moment of hushed silence before the hat burst into song.

_There's no witch or wizard_

_no one better suited than me_

_put me on I'll take a look_

_and tell you what you can be_

_The founders four trusted me_

_to divide the students up_

_by passing on their knowledge_

_to prevent any sort of mixup_

_To some of you bold few_

_Gryffindor will be the best._

_Where those brave souls won't fail_

_when they are put to any test._

_Perhaps you will be in Ravenclaw_

_where knowledge is a friend._

_Clever students abide here_

_and use learning to reach their end._

_There's always Hufflepuff,_

_where the truly loyal go._

_These are the most trusting_

_and the kindest you could know._

_Sly Slytherin is last._

_Make sure to stay alert_

_for these most cunning lot_

_wile away from any hurt._

_Before you sit and let your fate_

_be decided by a cap,_

_let me give you a warning:_

_be careful of any trap_

_There is danger on the horizon_

_it draws ever near_

_the future is growing cloudy,_

_but of this I am quiet clear._

_Stand together always_

_not just with your house._

_If you do not head my warning_

_the source of magic will be doused._

_Hurry up and take a seat_

_your waiting I shall end,_

_but don't forget to remember this_

_or somethings you won't be able to mend._

Murmurs erupted around the Great Hall as the first student was sorted into Ravenclaw. "The end of magic again," Rose whispered to Albus and Scorpius. "What does it mean?" Scorpius shrugged. He was trying his best to ignore the prophesy's prediction. Divination was mostly guesswork, but now hearing the Sorting Hat relay a similar message, fear crept into his mind again. There wasn't a way to end magic, he thought as he glanced around the Great Hall filled with students. All of them would keep magic alive as long as they lived. After the last student was sorted and dinner was eaten amongst whispers, the plates were cleared and Professor McGonagall rose to her feet.

The elderly Headmistress had taught during their parents days at Hogwarts and from the stories that the children had heard, she hadn't changed much. She gave the students a cool look which combined with her grey hair pulled up into a tight bun gave the impression that she wouldn't tolerate any nonsense. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," she said crisply. "Before I go on to the usual warnings such as the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds, products from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes are banned unless they are specifically listed on the very short cleared objects list posted on Mr. Filch's door. I hope to have the rest of the year be more calm than the train ride here." She gave a stern glance in the direction of where James and Fred were sitting.

"We didn't do anything yet!" Fred cried indignantly.

"Did we?" James frowned in confusion at his empty plate.

"Also we need to address the events of last year." Scorpius felt a moment of worry that his involvement in what events she was about to discuss was going to be told to the entire school. "Professor Trelawney was murdered at the end of last term as you all know. Some of you even were allowed to come see her off." See her off sounded pleasant, but Scorpius' stomach twisted as he thought of the scene that he and his friends had stumbled upon. "We have reason to believe that the escapees from Azkaban are behind this and will not hesitate to attack anyone who stands in their ways. Security around the castle has been increased, and do not leave your dormitories at night for any reason. If you feel threatened, do not walk the castle or grounds alone." It seemed as if McGonagall's words were meant for him, but Scorpius ignored them. He wouldn't be dragging his friends around everywhere that he went.

"If you have any information," she continued, "Please let us know. These are darker times than we have seen in years, but we want to prevent any misfortune that might arise."

Later that night, Scorpius lay awake listening to his roommate's heavy breathing. Quint had been kind and asked about his holiday while Albus was prattling on about Quidditch with another boy called Marvin who kept shooting Scorpius dark looks while he unpacked. That's what he would have blurted out had James and Fred been successful he thought with a chill running down his spine. The reasons that his friends should take a page from Lucy's book and run far away from him before he dragged them down.

xXx

Classes weren't too difficult. Gryffindor had Herbology, Potions, and Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs, which allowed plenty of time to spend with Alice and to enjoy her own unique point of view to each class. One day early in the semester, she casually remarked that the new Potions professor, Professor Brentari, with his dark hair and eyes was "dead sexy" causing Albus to promptly blow up his cauldron as he accidentally knocked over extra unicorn tears into his potion at this pronouncement. Neither Rose or Alice seemed to mind Brentari having to come around and reverse the boils that had sprung up on their faces due to Albus' solution.

Exactly two months after the Potions incident, the three Gryffindors waited in the library for Alice to join them. "What's taking her so long?" Rose inquired impatiently. They were supposed to work on their essays for Defense on the dangers of doxies, but Alice was nearly an hour late. Scorpius had already completed the essay along with Rose, but the four friends were supposed to be meeting at the insistence of Albus who claimed to need help. Most likely he just planned to copy.

Albus tugged the map from his cluttered bag and examined the ink that wove across the page. "She's in a classroom on the fourth floor, alone."

"Let's go get her then," Rose said, unwilling to wait any longer for her. The three of them collected their things before heading down to the fourth floor room Albus indicated. Rose entered the room first, but stopped abruptly allowing Scorpius to barely inch his way into the room. Alice sat with her eyes closed in the middle of the room, legs crossed beneath her while her robes billowed out around her. A fire roared in the grate in the corner sending purple hued smoke across the room. "Alice?" Rose whispered as Scorpius gaped at the unusual sight. Rose's voice caused the Hufflepuff's eyes to fly open, appearing almost flat black for a moment.

"Oh!" Alice cried, quickly using her wand to clear the air and extinguish the unusual flames. She then turned to face her friends with a look of complete horror.

"What are you working on?" Albus poked his head around Rose, apparently he missed the whole episode as he didn't seem concerned or confused.

"Stuff," Alice said defensively, "I have to go talk to Professor McGonagall." She slipped past them, but Rose wasn't ready to give up yet on finding out what was going on.

"What was that?" Rose demanded as she chased after Alice. Scorpius sighed, of course they would have to run after her. It took only a moment for him to catch up to Rose and only a moment longer before he caught Alice. Maybe all the running over the summer was useful after all.

"I have to talk to McGonagall!" Alice insisted. At that moment, the Headmistress rounded the corner much to Alice's visible relief. "Professor!" She cried, "Diagon Alley-" The elderly women cut her off with a shake of her head and Alice's shoulders sagged.

"This is tomorrow's headline," she said grimly as she handed Alice a copy of the _Daily Prophet_. TEN DEAD IN DIAGON ALLEY AT THE HANDS OF ESCAPEES. The picture showed the crumbled remains of a building with glittering letters overhead which read, MAGIC MUST BE PURIFIED. THESE PEOPLE WOULD NOT ACCEPT OUR TERMS. Alice thrust the paper back towards McGonagall and turned away with a muffled sob. Rose looked at her curiously while she gave her a hug. Scorpius was more interested in the article which stated that the attackers had also left another note painted in what seemed to be blood on another building stating that their next target was Hogsmeade. They were cocky, Scorpius shuddered looking away from the article. Stupid enough to declare their next target or confident enough that they declared their intent to take out more people.

Albus looked from Scorpius to the two girls, back over to McGonagall who was regarding the quietly crying Alice with pity. "Does anyone know what is going on?" He asked, slight annoyance coloring his voice.

"Five points from Gryffindor," McGonagall said sharply.

"Why?" Albus gaped at her.

"For insensitivity," the Headmistress replied before leaving the four alone in the hall.

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**A/N: Everyone is hiding something. Any theories? What did you think of the Sorting Hat's song? That's the first time I've ever written something like that before and it was actually fun. Who would have guessed? (Except for her amazingness, JKR who probably really enjoys writing those songs.) **

**Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews. Life is a bit better now and as proof, I've updated twice in one week!**

**That's not my most exciting news however, this story might soon be available in another language! Stay tuned for more details, but isn't that fantastic? Yes, I know I'm a bit excited, but this is my first published story after all.**

**Much thanks forever and ever to my beta, hermione-amelia-rose1479.**

**Next time: Bryce is back and ready to cause trouble. Albus steals something from James and Lucy gets cornered by a very angry Scorpius. The news of the attack also spreads, which doesn't exactly keep the students calm.**


	17. Chapter 17: Blood Ties

**Disclaimer: Do I look like I own Harry Potter? Oh right, you don't know what I look like... Trust me, I don't.**

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Chapter 17: Blood Ties

Alice didn't show up to breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning. Which wasn't surprising after the way she'd barely acknowledged her friends as they walked her back to the door to her common room. Rose sat across the table from Scorpius and Albus ignoring her breakfast while she read a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ that she had borrowed from Dominique. "They said they are going to attack Hogsmeade next? Are they mental?" She handed the paper off to Fred who took it back over to the uncharacteristically somber third year Gryffindor boys.

"What else did it say?" Albus said, pushing his half eaten breakfast away. Rose gave him a questioning look. "What? Somethings are more important than food." He said looking at Scorpius for backup.

Scorpius had to agree, somethings were more important, but the reason that he was only picking at his food was the fact that he felt sick. He could imagine his grandfather striding in amongst the chaos before raising his wand and- "Are you okay?" Scorpius opened his eyes, not realizing he had closed them in the first place. Rose leaned forward slightly to meet his eyes, "If you aren't feeling well I think that all the professors would understand." Most likely the professors wouldn't even notice. Some students had been pulled out of school already as the news that Hogsmeade was supposed to be attacked next spread. The only table that didn't seem to be missing any students was the Slytherin table.

"I'll be fine," Scorpius muttered as Paul Bryce saw him staring at the Slytherin table. Bryce stood up, dragging another boy to his feet and sauntered over in a manor that Scorpius knew would have impressed his father during his schooldays.

"Did you miss me?" The larger boy stood over him sneering at the Gryffindors while his friend hovered nervously behind him.

Scorpius chose to ignore Bryce and instead addressed the nervous looking Slytherin whose dark hair and pale pointed face only seemed to enhance the expression of fear on his face. "Who are you? His minion?" Rose gave a small laugh, but quickly averted her gaze when Bryce glared at her.

"Theo Surey," he said in a soft voice. Despite his twitchy appearance, his voice was all Slytherin, dangerous and smooth.

"Surey, I haven't heard that name before," Albus said mostly to himself, "Are you a pureblood? A Slytherin who isn't a pureblood?"

"Quit it," Bryce growled while Surey gave a cold glare that made Scorpius shiver. "I'm here offering you one last chance to redeem yourself, Malfoy."

"I don't want it," Scorpius said as he turned his back on Bryce.

Fingers dug into his shoulder, "You haven't heard what I'm offering."

"You mean what you're threatening?" Scorpius refused to turn around and meet Bryce's gaze and instead focused on Albus' narrowed gaze and Rose's oddly bowed head as she stared at her plate.

"I'll be honest, I won't tell you what will happen because that will ruin the surprise. You should help us, we need you." Scorpius resisted the urge to shove Bryce away. If he was resorting to begging, things couldn't be good. "We all know you miss it. Just because you've gone soft doesn't mean you're innocent." Bryce hissed before he shoved Scorpius into the table and stalked away, Surey trailing behind him.

As soon as the two Slytherins left Rose roughly stood up. "Library," she said tersely before nearly sprinting out of the Great Hall.

"What's her problem?" Albus asked as he watched his cousin leave. "And what do you miss?"

If Scorpius had felt sick before, it was nothing compared to how he was feeling now. "I didn't know. I had no idea. How does he know?" He put his head in his hands as memories swirled inside his head causing him to get a headache as he tried to push them all away.

"You don't look so good," Albus said cautiously.

"I'm going to class," Scorpius snapped as he violently shoved his plate away and began to stalk out of the hall. Bryce was just trying to get under his skin. Besides, Astoria had always said that it wasn't his fault, that he was fine. "But what kind of people want their granddad dead?" Scorpius hissed as he swept out the tall double doors and right into Lucy. Before Lucy could react to running into him, Scorpius whipped out his wand and pointed it at her. "I'm tired of whatever you've been pulling and I want an explanation right now or I will hex you so badly that you won't be seen until after Christmas."

Lucy eyed his wand warily, "Will you point that away from me?"

"No," Scorpius spat, deciding to temporarily embrace his Malfoy side.

"Fine," Lucy backed away slightly, "I don't know why I'm being a prat."

"That's your excuse?"

"Calm down!" Lucy backed away a little more from him. "Somedays I just can't stand to look at you all, but most days I have no clue why we are all fighting."

"It's your fault!" Scorpius said, lowering his wand slightly.

"Most likely it is," Lucy agreed. "But I can't remember _why_."

"Well, if you decide to stop being a git, you could always help Albus with homework. Rose refuses to help him anymore." After that, Scorpius brushed past the older girl as he wound his way up the stairs to a double Transfiguration class.

Albus appeared a minute after Scorpius had settled in. "Lucy just said hello to me, what did you do?" Scorpius could only shrug before Rose burst into the room carrying a large book in her arms, her hair flying wildly around her face.

"Scorp, you should do what Bryce wants," she managed to say as she tried to catch her breath after an obvious run. Scorpius felt a twinge of annoyance at her words but managed to stay silent for her to continue her story. "I think Surey is a vampire."

Albus dropped the book he was pulling out of his bag in shock, "They let a vampire into Hogwarts?"

"I think so," Rose said gravely as she dropped into the empty seat next to Scorpius. "If he is one, they aren't supposed to be out of control or anything but still..." She shuddered.

Scorpius tried to remember all that he could about vampires, but as creatures weren't studied until third year of Defense, all he knew was that they drank blood. "Why should I go along with Bryce then?"

"Because!" Rose whimpered, not meeting his eyes.

"Oh I forgot," Albus said, "You're afraid of vampires."

"Course I am!" Rose said, finally glancing up eyes wide with panic. "Hugo went through a magical creature phase and told me everything they can do. Did you know-" They never found out what Rose was going to say next as at that moment a cheerful Hufflepuff entered the room and glided over towards a seat by Rose.

"Holy Merlin," Albus breathed as Alice gave him a flirtatious wink before settling into her seat. There was something different about her now. The distraught girl of the previous night had vanished, leaving in her place a confident. happy replacement. For some odd reason, Scorpius found himself staring until Rose elbowed him.

"You seem much better today, Alice," Rose said after she was sure that Scorpius was no longer gaping.

"I am. McGonagall and I talked for a really long time and I realized that I was being silly. Why was I even so upset last night anyways?" She beamed at her friends as she flicked her hair over her shoulder.

"Maybe because something terrible happened?" Albus managed to reply somewhat distractedly. Class was called to session as Professor Barrow started off the class with them practicing vanishing spells.

The rest of the day was passed in a quiet panic. Scorpius watched a few students be lead away crying hysterically about the past day's events and threats. Most stood in groups, glancing out of windows towards Hogsmeade often as if they could see any sign of attack. He found himself staring out the window too at times, but instead of fearfully watching for an attack, he wished for freedom from the tense atmosphere.

It was with great relief that Scorpius dropped into a chair in the common room at the end of the day. Rose pulled the book that she'd taken from the library earlier out of her bag, the title, Creatures of the Darkest Nights, was written in curly black letters on the old leather front. Albus let his head loll back on the chair after he sank into a seat, sighing as his eyes drooped shut. Always alert, Scorpius glanced around the common room, noting how empty it was. A couple of the Weasleys were sitting by the fireplace, conversing quietly. There were a few groups of girls whispering, but only one person was staring at him. The three other boys in his dorm were seated across the room. Quint was bent over a piece of parchment twirling his quill absentmindedly. His best friend, Lewis, who had never before spoken to Scorpius, seemed to have fallen asleep on a book. The last boy, Marvin, was now making his way towards him with his wand gripped tightly in his hand.

Before Scorpius could defend himself, Marvin had fired a jinx at him. With his face stinging, he looked up to face the other boy. "Your family did this," Marvin said angrily, grabbing Scorpius' robes while his wand remained pointed at his face. "I've got an aunt in St. Mungo's from that attack that your crazy, pureblood elitist family lead." Scorpius tried to open his mouth to say that it wasn't his fault, but all he could do was stare at the other boy who was shaking in fury. It wasn't his fault, he couldn't have done anything. He reached for his wand, fully intending to show him what Malfoys were capable of, but was interrupted before he could even touch it.

"Let him go," The first person to come to his aid wasn't Rose or Albus who took a moment to leap to their feet, but Lucy who hurried over from the bottom of the girls' staircase. She grabbed Marvin and yanked him backwards, causing him to drop Scorpius backwards into his chair again. "If I see you threaten him again, I know a spell that will stick your wand where the sun doesn't shine. Now get lost." It only took a second for Marvin to hurry back to his friends as he put distance between himself and the frightening third year.

Lucy settled into an unoccupied chair next to Rose. "You all right, Scorp?"

Scorpius only managed to give a shaky nod before Rose spoke, "What are you _doing_?"

Albus picked up a textbook and held it up in front of his face as he pretended to read. No doubt preparing for a fight between the two girls. Scorpius wondered if he noticed that the book was upside down. "Can't I sit with you guys? I think that's what friends do."

"Friends?" Rose stood up, her book falling to the floor forgotten. "You insult us, ignore us and then you still think we are friends? Are you mental?"

"I'm sorry!" Lucy blurted before the argument could go any farther, causing Rose to freeze. "I'm sorry."

Rose seemed to hover between pushing the issue and letting it go for a moment, but eventually, she sat down heavily. "I don't trust you."

"Understandable. What are you working on Al? Charms?" Lucy tilted her head to read the title of the book he was holding as she changed the subject. "Do you need me to tell you all the answers as you attempt to learn something?"

It only took a moment for Lucy to be dragged away to the library by a very enthusiastic Albus. It would probably be less than an hour before the two came back, arguing over what was copying and what was just helping. "What happened there?" Rose asked as she picked up her book and found the correct page.

Scorpius had been watching Quint talking to Marvin, arguing quietly while Lewis slept on. Could Quint actually be defending him? "What?" It took Rose clearing her throat for Scorpius to realize she had spoken to him.

"Lucy. What's going on there?"

"She apologized," Scorpius shrugged. "I figured I should just let it go."

"Have you forgotten what she said? Those terrible things? She'll do it again."

Lucy's odd behavior wasn't the biggest issue in Scorpius' mind at the moment. "Why should I listen to Bryce?" He said abruptly. No doubt that Rose was upset with Lucy, but by bringing up her odd behavior, she was just trying to delay a much more complicated conversation.

Her face paled, "Vampires are very, very frightening dark creatures." Her figures gripped the book in her hands so tightly it seemed as if the old leather would disintegrate in her grasp.

"Bryce might make me do some very, very frightening dark magic," Scorpius pointed out. Dark creatures he could handle, but some spells were more damaging than just one person could be.

"Do you know what vampires do?"

"Drink blood." He tried to think of something else he had learned, but came up with nothing.

"Human blood," Rose whispered before launching into an explanation that could have come word for word out of a book. "They only drink human blood. There are ways for vampires to get blood without biting anyone now, which is why they are more acceptable in society. They can be killed with strong spells like humans, but the more blood they drink, the stronger they become."

"Other than the creepy fact that they drink blood, why should I be afraid?" It seemed like an even better idea to stay away from the Slytherins now, not a reason to join their side.

"I'm not finished," Rose said impatiently. "Just because they drink blood wouldn't classify them as dark creatures as there are some wizarding tribes that preform rituals by drinking-"

"Don't want to know," Scorpius cut in, feeling sick.

"Fine. If you stumble across the Fanged Banshee tribe don't come complaining to me because you didn't know what to do. Vampires spread through a bite, but there are a couple different ways for a person to be bitten. You could be bitten and Turned. Become a vampire. You could be bitten and drained of all your blood, left as an empty shell, dead. The third option is the worst."

"It gets worse than dead?" Scorpius muttered.

"Yes it does, be serious."

"That's my middle name!" James yelled from across the room where he and Fred were fiddling with a couple of Weasley Wizard Wheezes products.

Rose rolled her eyes before lowering her voice so that nosey cousins wouldn't hear, "Lastly, the vampire could bite you but not infect you by only allowing a little bit of venom into your system. This leaves you human, but binds you to the vampire's will. You will be fully conscious of your actions, so it's not like the Imperious curse where things are hazy in the victim's mind. If this happens, you are bound to do whatever the vampire wishes. In some cases, the victim will embrace his master's thoughts, others will fight until death. This can only be broken if the subject becomes a full vampire, or one of the two die." Rose fell silent, staring down at the heavy book. "When I was young I was terrified that a vampire would come and take away my freewill, make me something I'm not. Do you understand now why you should follow Bryce? If Surey is a real vampire, or even just part, he could force you to do it anyways."

"Did you even consider the opposite?" The whole idea was scary, but Rose had never seen dark magic before. She didn't know what it could do and why exactly it should be feared. "I'd rather lose myself than willingly follow him."

"What if they go after someone else?" Rose's question was left hanging in the air as Albus stomped back into the common room.

"Lucy says that I need to actually get a textbook!" Albus snapped as he passed his two friends. "A book? I have barely looked at those while I write essays and I do fine." His grumbling could be heard as he vanished up the stairs to the boys' dorms.

After the angry clomping on the stairs faded away, Rose turned back to Scorpius, waiting his response. As much as it twisted his stomach to think about willingly performing dark magic, if it came down to that choice, he knew he would protect his friends. Even if it meant destroying his own soul. Albus came down the stairs, clutching his bag and a book to his chest. "You might need this soon," he whispered, shoving his bag into Scorpius' arms before leaving the common room again.

"His bag?" Rose said skeptically as Scorpius undid the straps to open it. Inside in shimmering folds lay James' invisibility cloak. He had a very bad feeling he might know what the legendary cloak might be needed for.

xXx

Two days before Christmas, Scorpius was wandering around Hogwarts searching for Albus. His parents had owled asking him to stay at school for the holiday without saying why. With Lucius gone, Scorpius was less worried about his parents, but was still annoyed that they once again left him without any information. Albus decided to stay to keep him company while Lucy, Alice and Rose reluctantly left to go back home. Rose had fought to stay for Christmas, but eventually agreed to leave when Hugo wrote her the longest letter he'd ever seen detailing why she needed to come home.

Things between the five friends were shaky at best now. Scorpius honestly thought that he was doing the best out of all of them, and he still woke up from nightmares of prophesies and murders at least once a week. Lucy had reluctantly been allowed back into their group, mostly thanks to Albus' insistence that they needed to be on good terms with her in order for him to pass his classes. As the top girl in their class, Rose had grumbled about not being asked to help before Albus reminded her that the last time she helped, he accidentally turned Louis into a chair. Impressive magic, but incorrect and impossible to reverse until Roxanne managed to find Professor Barrow to change him back.

Despite no longer wandering around the castle friendless, Lucy still seemed a bit distant and jumpy. Albus joked that she was almost as jumpy as Surey, whom Rose had obsessively stalked as she tried to discover whether or not he was a vampire or just an extremely jumpy third year. That little comment led to most of Professor Flitwick's fifth year class laughing at him as he burst into the middle of the class screaming. According to witnesses, Albus kept screaming while gesturing wildly for help. Flitwick hadn't known what was wrong, so Albus fainted from lack of oxygen before the counter-jinx was found. Word spread quickly that Lucy was very adept at performing screeching jinxes.

Still bitter about Lucy's acceptance, Rose spent more time away from the group creeping after Surey. She had taken Albus' map and Scorpius passed off the cloak to her while she snuck around after him. Scorpius had begun waiting up for her to sneak in when the common room was empty only to have her reports be along the lines of Surey eats broccoli and does his homework in the library. He would have given up long ago on listening to her wild accusations- apparently according to her only vampires eat broccoli the way he does- but the fighting with Lucy hadn't put her on the best of terms with Albus. Hopefully she would let the idea go before Scorpius went mad.

Alice in Albus' words, was a basket case. Most days she would blabber on about anything until Rose or Lucy told her to stop while others she would run out of class without a word. Scorpius tried to defend her by saying she was most likely stressed, but after ditching them in the middle of a conversation without a word, Scorpius privately began to agree.

Albus, Scorpius supposed, was fine most of the time. As a frequent target of James and Fred, he spent a lot of time in the hospital wing having various spells reversed. Most recently Scorpius had to drag him away from James after a faulty spell made anything he touched stick to him. In addition to being a tester of James and Fred's schemes, Albus often was caught in the middle of Rose and Lucy's spats. The last time he suggested that they should get along, he ended up discovering that the jelly-legs jinx combined with the full body bind did not end well. Albus ended up spending the Slytherins verses Gryffindor game in the hospital wing because of that.

Now there weren't many people left at Hogwarts. Albus was the only one in his family to stay behind which left Gryffindor tower very empty. A handful of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs still remained and a few Slytherins. When Rose found out that Surey and Bryce were staying over break, Lucy and Alice had to drag her onto the train to keep her from continuing her stalking. Albus had been missing for a few hours now, and Scorpius was reminded of him getting locked in a closet their first year. He would never admit it, but Scorpius was hoping that Albus had gotten stuck somewhere just so that perhaps his misfortune could finally make the three girls smile.

After searching for nearly an hour, Scorpius was beginning to become worried. Albus wasn't exactly the most observant and after only the dungeons remained unexplored, Scorpius had a sinking feeling that he might have gotten into trouble with the Slytherins. Before heading downstairs into the dark dungeons, he hid out of sight and pulled the Potters' invisibility cloak out of his pocket. Albus had given it to Scorpius saying that if Bryce really did want to get him into trouble, it might come in handy. The cloak usually was James' and he was not pleased that it had gone missing. Scorpius was fairly sure that most of the pranks performed on Albus over the past few weeks were due to James being convinced that Albus had his cloak. He tugged the flowing fabric over his head before quietly sneaking down the stairs, taking care to not let his footsteps echo.

As he crept along the side of the wall, he heard a small cry coming from down the corridor. He sped up while still trying to be as silent as possible. At the end of the hall, Scorpius turned and found Albus held up against the wall by Surey lazily pointing his wand at his face while Bryce stood glancing around.

"He should be here shouldn't he, Potter?" Bryce snapped as his eyes passed over the place where Scorpius was standing. Albus made a noncommittal noise as he kept his eyes trained on the end of the hall. Scorpius tried to think like the way Rose drilled into his head. Two against two would probably be fine except one was a possible vampire, one would most likely use dark magic, and Albus' wand was lying about twenty feet away, barely visible in the torchlight. Rose's question came back to him from a few weeks ago asking what he would do for his friends if they were in danger. Albus would be the friend that would get in trouble though. Why couldn't he be more observant?

Ungracefully, he yanked the invisibility cloak off, getting it tangled a bit before he shoved it into his pocket. "What do you want Bryce?"

Bryce snapped his head around to find him standing in the shadows. A frighteningly large grin spread across his face, "I think you should listen to me now."

"What?" Scorpius snapped, making sure to keep an eye on Surey.

"I would keep an eye on him too." Bryce noticed his distraction, "But I'd listen to me. Rumor is that Surey is a vampire, have you heard?" Scorpius scowled at the Slytherin. He'd heard. He'd heard much more than he ever wanted to from Rose. "It would be unfortunate if he was and Albus had a little accident."

"What do you want?" Scorpius relented while Albus desperately tried to squirm away.

"I'm sure you've heard about the supposed battle of Hogsmeade that's coming up?" Scorpius gave a terse nod. "I want you to be there."

He waited for a moment for Bryce to continue to speak, but he fell silent. He wanted him to be in the middle of a _fight_? "Why?"

"You won't be fighting on either side, you just need to go. Simple. Think you could handle that Malfoy?"

There had to be something else that he wasn't telling. Just making him go to Hogsmeade wasn't worth all this trouble. Did Bryce want him hurt? Did he want him to tell others and then trap them in the fighting? "You just want me to go, not fight, just be there?"

"Wasn't too hard to process was it?"

Scorpius ignored the comment, "You're up to something."

"Obviously, but you don't have much choice now do you?" Surey prodded Albus with his wand to accentuate Bryce's words.

"Stop it," Albus grumbled, managing to kick the other boy in the shin.

Surey made a pained hiss, "Hurry up Bryce!"

"Just be in Hogsmeade."

Scorpius glared at the other two, "Fine. Let him go."

"Not so fast, Malfoy. Blood promise first."

"A _what_?" Albus looked between the two of them as Bryce drew his wand.

"Doesn't concern you, Potter." Bryce waited for Scorpius to move. Scorpius was familiar with blood promises. Depending on how you looked at it, they could be less serious than the Unbreakable Vow as if broken you didn't die. However, it was impossible to break a blood promise. Scorpius had heard his father discuss the mechanics of such a promise once- such magic was neither light or dark as his father called it, it was grey magic- and as he was very young at the time, he only had the basic idea of the promise. In theory, you use blood to swear to whatever you want to, and then it becomes impossible to break the promise. Scorpius was reluctant to follow through, but what choice did he have? He couldn't sacrifice Albus who was becoming more agitated by the second, and what if he did sacrifice him? They would only go after someone else.

He held out his hand, palm up. Bryce smiled before slashing his wand through the air, causing a deep cut to appear across his palm. With a slight wince, Scorpius curled his hand to let a little blood pool in his hand, "I promise to be present for the upcoming battle which is said to occur at Hogsmeade village." The wording was precise, it couldn't be used to cause him to fight, only be present. Satisfied that the wording was sufficient, he turned his hand over and let a couple of drops of blood fall to the stone floor, sealing the promise.

"Excellent," Bryce said. "See you soon." Surey shoved Albus away and the two Slytherins disappeared down the dark hall.

Scorpius watched Albus scramble to pick up his wand with shaking hands. "Scorp, what did you do? You shouldn't have done anything. I would have figured something out."

"I highly doubt that," Scorpius responded drily, but honestly as he curled his still bleeding hand into a fist. Albus was right though, he thought with a sinking feeling. What had he done?

* * *

**A/N: I'M BACK! It's been crazy around here so most of this was written on my phone. Not the best idea to write the longest chapter so far on a tiny keyboard. Anyways, what is going on with Scorpius? (Seriously, if it was me I'd probably figure out a way to take the two of them out while wearing the invisibility cloak, but no Scorp had to be a hero...) Rose was my absolute favorite to write this chapter. Can't you just see her sneaking around Hogwarts writing down anything Surey does? I actually started writing a little bit from Rose's POV about her creeping before I realized although it's amusing, I don't have time to start another story. What do you guys think of Surey? Is he really a vampire or is Rose overreacting? You'll have to wait to find out!**

**The next chapter may take a little longer to come out because I'm going back to school! Before you all worry about my mental health for being excited about this, let me just say I'm going back up to COLLEGE which I love more than anything. I'm super stoked to see all my friends, especially my best friend who is the only person who knows I'm writing this story. (HEY YOU!) **

**Shout out to my AWESOME beta, hermione-amelia-rose1479.**

**This story is also now available in Portuguese thanks to Ana Malfoy Cullen! The link is on my profile so check it out!**

**Also on my profile, I've been posting story progress. If I vanish for a bit, I'll keep my progress updated there so that you know I haven't given up! I'm just most likely living out of boxes again with limited internet access.**

**Next time: In which there is much arguing amongst friends, Albus ends up getting blamed for everything and Scorpius has to figure out how to pull everyone together before the Battle of Hogsmeade commences. **


	18. Chapter 18: Repercussions

Chapter 18: Repercussions

Rose was really mad. Extremely mad. "What were you _thinking_?" She screamed while Scorpius quietly searched the common room for someone who would help. Neither Lucy or Albus wanted to interrupt an angry Rose, and Albus actually seemed to be nodding in agreement with Rose's words. The first thing that Albus said to Rose when she got back from holiday was that Scorpius had agreed to something with Bryce. It only took five minutes for the four Gryffindor friends to gather in the common room- Rose had temporarily forgiven Lucy to focus her rage on Scorpius. She grabbed his hand roughly, turning it over to look at the long red scar across his palm. "That's Dark Magic, Scorpius! Any other magic could be healed," she roughly dropped his hand and paced back and forth in front of the chair that he had been backed into. "What exactly did you agree to, don't paraphrase."

"I said that I would be present for the upcoming battle at Hogsmeade." If Rose was in a better mood, Scorpius would have teased her by pointing out that he had used the word present which made him sound smarter. Now instead he watched her apprehensively as she paced back and forth. He didn't have any other options, couldn't she see that? "It could have been a lot worse Rose-"

She stopped pacing and planted her hands on each armrest, "It also could have gone a lot _better._"

Albus quietly stood up from his chair and slowly edged away towards the rest of his family who all were not bothering to pretend that they weren't watching. Scorpius wanted to scream at him for leaving him, but at least Lucy was still around, even if she was sitting sideways on the chair seemingly not paying attention. "Look, what would have you done, Rose?"

"I don't know!" She spun away angrily, hiding her face so that Scorpius couldn't see. "Merlin Scorp, I'm scared."

"I'm pretty sure Scorpius isn't scared at all," Lucy said sarcastically while she stared up at the ceiling with her head on the armrest.

"I am not talking to you right now. In other words, shut up or go away." Scorpius stared in amazement as Rose turned her back on Lucy who was now paying attention and appeared to be just as surprised as he was by her words. Rose started pacing again, mumbling to herself. Lucy arched an eyebrow when Scorpius caught her attention which he returned with a shrug. It's not like he understood what was going on in her head half of the time. The third year twisted to sit upright in the chair before giving Scorpius a small wave and abandoning him to Rose's wrath. He would be thanking Albus and Lucy for their undying loyalty later.

With a sigh, he stood up, "Come on Rosie, let's go for a walk." Rose allowed him to steer her to the portrait hole, and as she crawled through, he turned around to glare at his two other friends who were staring at him with pity. The two of them wandered aimlessly for a while after Scorpius decided to let Rose calm down and speak first.

"Did you know," she said as they wandered around the seventh floor, "That the Room of Requirement is somewhere on this floor? My parents never told me how to find it though, and they said it's probably been destroyed. I've always wanted to find it anyways."

Scorpius had heard stories of the Room too, but his father had only briefly mentioned it. One of his friends had died there apparently in the accident that was rumored to have permanently destroyed it. "If anyone can find it again, it's going to be you."

She brushed off his compliment, "We'll see over the next few years." They took a couple steps more before she spoke again, "Why'd you do it?"

"I couldn't let anything happen to Al," he responded without missing a beat.

"I know that," he didn't have to look at her to know she was rolling her eyes. "Why couldn't you go get help and you did have the invisibility cloak, why didn't you use that to your advantage?"

"Sorry I'm not perfect like you are," he shot back before he was fully aware of what he was saying. "Ah Merlin, I didn't mean it like that!" Rose picked up her pace as she strode back towards the picture of the Fat Lady. "Rose," He grabbed her wrist to make her stop. "I didn't think straight. I'm not like you Potters and Weasleys who manage to deal with pressure. I just reacted."

"What exactly is a blood promise though?" She peeled his hand off of her wrist to examine the cut again.

"It's a promise you can't break-"

"Like an Unbreakable Vow?" She instantly thought of the worst possible situation.

"No, I won't die if I break it because I can't break it."

Rose frowned for a moment before reluctantly spitting out, "I don't understand."

He nearly laughed at the pained look on her face, "When you make a blood promise, you end up keeping it. Even if you try to break it you just can't. I don't know exactly-"

"You don't know everything about this promise you made?" Rose's tone had become acidic once again.

"I don't understand everything either, but what I do know is that somehow I will end up in Hogsmeade whenever I'm supposed to be there and I want to be there."

"You want to be in the middle of a battle which includes people that just killed innocent people recently," Rose said flatly. "I can think of a few reasons you should keep living."

"I don't want to die," Scorpius rolled his eyes this time. "I want to see what Bryce is up to and maybe I could do something to help."

"Might I remind you that you'll probably be up against full grown wizards and you're only twelve."

"I could be thirteen by then," Scorpius weakly countered.

"Oh a teenage Malfoy. Everyone watch out, we have a seriously angsty rich boy on our hands. He might stun you if he's provoked."

"Shove off," he muttered. "You would have done the same thing. I know you're dying of curiosity to see what's going to happen there, and I know you want to help too. Come with me. You could send a message to your parents for their help and then you can come and we'll watch each other's backs."

She took a deep breath and let go of his hand that she was still holding after examining it. "I'll be there for you Scorp. Always." He gave her a small smile as they made their way back into the common room. He expected her to take a seat again in their usual chairs, but instead she made her way over to Albus. "This," she said pointing at Scorpius while glaring at Albus, "Is your fault." She left the two boys staring after her in confusion as she left to go to her dormitory.

"Must be the Granger genes that make her mental," Lucy remarked off handily as she cleaned her glasses.

xXx

It wasn't until February that the five friends all ended up in the same place. Alice still would disappear randomly and since Lucy was a third year, she was only seen at mealtimes and in the common room. Scorpius couldn't remember why they hadn't all been together for a while until he found himself hiding underneath a desk with Albus while the three girls bickered.

"I don't understand girls," Albus muttered in frustration. "I grew up with those three, they've known each other since they were babies and look at us." Lucy was sitting a top a desk trying to appear in control while Alice was sitting on the floor with her head in her hands and Rose paced back and forth between the two of them.

"Do you even remember how this happened?" Scorpius watched the three girls glare at each other from their positions around the room.

"I think Alice accidentally offended Lucy, or maybe it was Rose saying something nasty on purpose."

"No it was Lucy saying something mean to Alice. I remember that; I'm wondering why we are hiding under this desk."

After an awkward pause Albus finally said, "Cause we don't want to get hexed?"

Scorpius sighed; yes he didn't want to get hexed, but he didn't see anything changing anytime soon with the way things were going. He crawled out from under the desk and carefully approached the girls. "What's going on now?"

"What a brave and stupid move," Albus mumbled from his safe position under the desk.

"A lot." Lucy said unhelpfully.

"Nothing," Rose responded when she stopped pacing.

"I'm not telling," Alice added, glancing up at him.

He stared at the three stone faced girls, "That's helpful."

"You're helpful," Lucy countered sarcastically.

"That's not an insult," Rose snapped with a shake of her messy hair.

"But you know what's an insult? Having to-"

"Please stop," Alice groaned as she put her head in her hands once again.

"Alice's right, stop it," Scorpius glared at the two redhead cousins. "What are you arguing about now?"

"I'm tired of them hiding things from us," Rose said gesturing to Lucy and Alice. "Alice has been acting odd for a while and Lucy's been sneaking around now more than ever. I actually think I saw her speaking to Surey! Slytherin Surey, possible vampire Surey!"

"Why would I be speaking to a slimy Slytherin? You really think I'd stoop to their level?"

Scorpius could feel a headache coming on with all the yelling that was occurring. If the girls weren't in the middle of an argument he would have reminded them that not all Slytherins were Dark Arts practitioners, but now he just wanted a moment of quiet. "No one is accusing you of anything-"

"Don't try and guess what I mean, I am accusing her of something. Of sneaking around with Slytherins!" Rose took a step closer to the older girl, craning her neck to glare directly at her.

"Everyone keeps secrets!" Albus scrambled out from under the table, his dragging robes tripping him up so that it took a couple of awkward but blissfully quiet seconds for him to continue. "Look, I don't tell you guys everything, and I know Scorpius is keeping something from us, but that doesn't mean that I corner him until he tells me every last thing. You're family. Alice is practically family," Albus added as an afterthought, "and that means that you stand together no matter what. You trust each other."

The relief at Rose and Lucy's nodding was greatly diminished by the fact that Albus had brought his secret up. He knew he was hiding something? Despite Albus' insistence that he wouldn't directly confront him about what he was hiding, Scorpius had a feeling that it wouldn't be long until he was forced to tell anyways. Bloody interfering Potters and their reverse psychology. "I'm fine with that," Alice spoke first. "You know that I've always been fine with whatever you all do, and I'm touched that you think of me as family Al. All this fighting is just silly anyways, we should be helping Scorpius figure out how to break his blood promise or something I dunno, useful? Preparing letters to our families so that they can get to Hogsmeade quickly when fighting breaks out? Doing something good with our lives?" She stood up quickly. "I'm going to visit my dad. I think Mum might be around too and I haven't seen them recently." She gave a weak smile at the two girls before giving Scorpius a hug and skipping over to Albus. "Great pep talk." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before scurrying out of the room.

Albus looked completely stunned, "I think I'll give pep talks from now on."

Scorpius gave a small exasperated snort at his friend's gobsmacked expression, "You all good now?"

"Good as it's going to get," Rose admitted reluctantly. "This doesn't mean everything is perfectly fine."

"Wouldn't expect anything less from little miss Auror in training, Rosie," Lucy said with an undercurrent of malice in her voice as she collected her bag and headed for the door.

"Glad you understand me perfectly, Luce. I can always count on you." The door banged shut behind Lucy, cutting off Rose's sarcastic quip. The remaining girl collapsed into a chair, "Merlin, why do they always make things so difficult?"

"Not that you're helping," Albus remarked as he also claimed a chair.

Scorpius quickly grabbed his bag as he saw the dark expression on Rose's face at her favorite cousin's thoughtless remark. "I'm going and getting a headache cure from Madame Fawcett." It was better to avoid that fight before it started.

xXx

The snow stayed late into the year. It was nearly mid April and the lake was still completely frozen over and students still would wrap up in their cloaks against the biting cold. "This is ri-ridiculous," Albus shivered as they left the dungeons after a very cold Potions class.

Rose muttered a warming charm on each of their hands, "It's probably preventing anyone from attacking Hogsmeade Al, be grateful."

"I'll be grateful once I can move my fingers again," he said wiggling his stiff fingers with a pained expression.

"Ungrateful git," Rose whispered to Scorpius who murmured a quiet thanks after she performed the warming charm on him. He rubbed his hands together as his fingers changed from bone white to a healthier pink.

The three reached the main hall, and Albus eagerly linked arms with his two best friends, "Food will make everything better won't it?"

Just thinking about food made Scorpius' stomach turn. "I think I'm going to skip for now."

"Skip a meal?" Albus asked aghast.

"I'll borrow the map and go to the kitchens if I'm hungry later. I'm fine Rose, really." Rose looked as if she was about to interrupt him. "I'll see you upstairs." He left his friends quickly before he started climbing the stairs as quickly as possible. It was strange how suddenly he felt fine and then it was as if he couldn't even think about going and eating food. Each step he took grew to be more painful. He was determined to make it to the Hospital Wing before he blacked out from whatever he'd caught, but somehow he dragged himself into his dormitory and onto his fourposter instead to fall asleep.

_"You're going to fail," his father whispered in his ear. "Why fight it?"_

_"It's okay Scorpius," his grandmother was there too, "We only want what is best for you."_

_"Just listen to them Scorpius," his mother was the most solid figure out of his family. "We are Slytherins by nature, Dark Magic is in our blood. You will be better than anyone else if you just listen to us." She reached out before the scene changed._

_He was seven years old when his grandfather held out the knife to him. "Pure silver," Lucius purred as he watched his grandson examine the shining blade. "Be careful now, we don't want Malfoy blood spilt. Do you know what to do?"_

_The young boy tried to keep his voice and hands from shaking, "Yes, Grandfather."_

Scorpius awoke with a shout, and fell to the floor as the worst pain he'd ever felt encompassed his entire body. Forget the Cruciatus Curse, this was worse. He managed to take one agonizing crawl towards the door, towards the hospital wing, when the pain let up slightly. He pushed himself forward again, and felt even better when he caught sight of the scar along his palm. Wildly, he twisted to see that his other roommates were sleeping in their beds and that it was dark outside with snow pounding against the windows. It couldn't be time _now_, could it? The pain that he felt as he moved away from the door to Albus' bed proved him otherwise. This was what it meant to break a blood promise he thought darkly. He could tell Rose that he knew what happens now. His entire body screamed for him to move back towards the door, away from pain, but eventually he reached Albus' bed. "Al," he croaked hoarsely. "Albus!" He blindly found his sleeping friend's arm flung over the side and tugged as hard as he could, "Potter!" Albus jerked awake and glanced around wildly until he saw Scorpius curled up on the floor, peering up at him shaking as he managed to finally spit out, "We need to go, now. I think the battle is starting."

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**A/N: YAY PLOT! ...Not that the other chapters were missing plot but now things are getting crazy! Lucy is being a jerk and needs a good hexing I know, but I promise she's not being a jerk for no reason. I won't give away why right now, but I will say Lucy wasn't very close with Rose and Albus before Hogwarts and she doesn't change quickly. **

**Thanks to my lovely reviewers and to my beta, hermione-amelia-rose1479.**

**I'm leaving for vacation or school really soon- don't know which yet. :P I'll try to get the next chapter up quickly cause it's intense!**

**Next Chapter: There might possibly be a battle beginning...**


	19. Chapter 19: The Darkness Awakened

**Disclaimer: Just because I forgot last time doesn't mean I own Harry Potter. *Sobs***

**A/N: Well, things get a bit darker here... But hey, this story is rated T.**

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Chapter 19: The Darkness Awakened

Albus dropped Scorpius into a chair in the corner of the common room after he managed to drag him downstairs. "We need to get the girls," Albus said quietly. "How do we get up to their dormitory though?" Scorpius wasn't exactly in any sort of shape to come up with a plan to thwart the sliding staircase that prevented boys from reaching the girls' rooms.

"Figure something out," Scorpius managed to gasp as he curled up into a ball on the chair as if making himself smaller would help make him feel better. Moving towards Hogsmeade may have made him feel a bit better, but with every second that passed the more it felt that he was being burned from the inside out.

"But I don't know what to do!" Albus' worried face swam dangerously as Scorpius started to lose consciousness.

"Something!" The word came out more like a scream than anything else. Albus seemed to steel himself and quickly turned and ran up the boys' staircase. Scorpius gave a small cry as his only alert ally vanished. With Albus gone, Scorpius decided to completely forget about writing letters to alert Mr. Potter of what was going on at Hogsmeade and telling his friends. All that mattered now was getting to Hogsmeade even if it meant dragging himself there. Anything to make it stop. He fell out of the chair and managed to push himself along the floor for about a meter before Albus reappeared with James by his side.

"Why'd you wake me up again?" The older boy asked while rubbing his eyes.

"I told you," Albus said impatiently as he dragged his brother to the bottom of the girls' staircase. "I need to speak to Rose, right now."

"'Bout what?" James asked as he yawned dramatically.

"Scorp. I think something's wrong and you know how Rosie is about him."

James impatiently waved his hand as he examined the stairs, "Yeah, yeah. I know. Now what do I get out of this? I don't grant favors to my favorite brother at three in the morning for nothing."

Scorpius wanted to scream. The exchange was taking too long and if they spent much more time discussing details, then he might as well have made an Unbreakable Vow with the way things were going. Albus seemed to finally have come up with a plan, "I know where the cloak is and I'll give it to you tomorrow if you help me."

James' eyebrows shot up, "I really should hex you for stealing it, but I'm too tired to care. You better uphold your end of the deal." The older Potter mumbled a spell before yelling in a magnified voice, "LADIES! JAMES POTTER NEEDS SOME HELP!"

"That's not going to work," Albus said with a shake of his head. In some part of his mind, Scorpius agreed, but that was just a very small part that wasn't completely focused on the fact that he couldn't even move anymore.

James responded with a cocky grin as a girl stumbled downstairs. "Jamesie?"

Albus stared in absolute shock as James greeted the girl, "Hannah, could you get my cousin Rosie for me? I'll owe you if you do. Tell her Albie and Scorpy need her." The girl giggled and hurried up the stairs.

"How is that possible?" Albus gaped at his brother, "Teach me, please."

Before James could reveal his secrets, Rose appeared along with Hannah who was still giggling. "What now Albus Potter?" She seemed grumpy, but Scorpius didn't care. He couldn't care anymore. With a weak gasp, he closed his eyes as the pain became unbearable. Was he dying? His eyes seemed to open again almost instantly. Now his body was being jostled uncomfortably. One of his legs was brushing the ground as he was moved and he felt like sobbing in relief as every step his carrier took began to help the pain fade from his fingertips.

"Al?" He managed to whisper as he found his voice.

The first voice that responded wasn't Albus' however. Rose gave a small cry, "Scorpius!" Her face appeared over his as he discovered that she was carrying his head. "How are you doing?"

"Terrible," he said, not a trace of sarcasm in that one word. "What's going on?"

"We're taking you to Hogsmeade," Lucy appeared in his line of sight, one eye on the Marauder's Map with her wand lit to read it clearly. "Can't have you dying on us anytime soon. That puts a damper on the year."

"We are all here," Alice said, giving his hand a squeeze. "Al ran and got me as soon as he could."

"I couldn't send a letter to my parents though," Albus spoke up as he readjusted his position. He was holding Scorpius' feet and wasn't doing a superb job. "We all thought that you were-" He trailed off, but Scorpius didn't need to hear the words that were left unsaid.

"I think I can walk," he said after a moment. "Just stay close." Albus set his feet down on the ground while Rose supported him. Now that he could move a little bit under his own power, the group could move faster. Lucy kept her eyes on the map, directing them away from any teachers as they neared the statue of the one eyed witch that connected Hogwarts to Honeydukes.

The tunnel was much colder than the castle. With the freezing temperatures and snow on the ground, Scorpius could see his breath in the muted wand light. Rose moved closer, not because he needed to be supported anymore as for the first time all night Scorpius was feeling better, but to wrap herself up in his cloak. The five of them remained silent, a miracle in itself. Even though the girls hadn't been on the best of terms, they put aside their differences for now. All it took was a near death experience, Scorpius thought grimly as they reached the bottom of the ladder into Honeydukes. Scorpius eagerly climbed up first, his wand held at ready in case he met any unfriendly wizards in the shop. No one was around after Alice clambered up the ladder last, and not a single soul was out in the streets when the five of them quietly exited the shop.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Lucy said grimly as she glanced around nervously.

Feeling completely fine wasn't a good sign now, not with the complete silence in the town. "The battle's going to start soon though," Scorpius tried to see further in the dark but all he could see were the soft snowflakes falling without a sound.

"We should take cover," Rose whispered. The group took one step back towards Honeydukes when a building down the street erupted into flames. Alice gave a small shriek as a series of small pops echoed around as hooded figures appeared around the street.

"Run!" Scorpius said as they scrambled over the icy ground towards the woods where hopefully they would be safe. Another building exploded into flames as they ran past and screams began to echo through the night as the snow continued to fall, unhindered by the spells that were being shot off. A bright white light hit the ground right where Lucy had been seconds before, and she responded with a stunner that took down one of the many hooded figures.

Alice was muttering what sounded like spells under her breath as she ran, but her wand remained at her side. Rose and Albus would each take a turn shooting off spells, watching each other's backs while they continued to sprint haphazardly towards the trees.

They were nearly there, Scorpius was lagging behind his friends despite usually being fast. Nearly dying had tired him out, who would have guessed. Just before he reached the trees, a hand grasped his wrist. Scorpius twisted around and threw a stunning spell before he even knew who had grabbed him.

His grandfather deflected the spell easily before giving him a cold smile. "I've been wanting to have a little chat with you." With that, he twisted on the spot, pulling Scorpius with him as he apparated.

Before they disappeared, he could hear someone scream, "Scorpius! No!"

Scorpius landed on his hands and knees on a dirty floor. He tried to quietly catch his breath while scanning the room while his head was still bowed. They were in a small library room. Books lined the shelves, which would have intrigued him if he hadn't noticed the cauldron sitting in the middle of the floor. With a deep breath he tried to calm himself and used the blessing and curse that Lucius had taught him. Yes, there. He could sense Dark Magic in the room. Now that he had tuned into it, the aftereffects were overpowering. He could feel it crawling under his skin, whispering promises of unlimited power. "Get up, we don't have all day."

Scorpius shakily rose to his feet to defiantly face his grandfather. "What do you want from me, and what are you doing to those people in Hogsmeade?"

"Such a pity that your inquisitiveness has gone to waste," the older man lit a fire under the cauldron and turned back to face him. The fire behind him made him look even more mad and Scorpius bit his tongue in an attempt to keep himself from shaking. "There was a time that I thought you might have some promise." The elder Malfoy began pulling things out of a bag. Scorpius recognized a dead Doxie, dragon scales, and the final ingredient Lucius pulled from his bag made him freeze in horror, unicorn's blood. "I tried to make you a proper Malfoy. You wouldn't listen though. You never would listen. Remember that time though that you did? You enjoyed it." Scorpius curled his hands into fists as he shook from fear or from anger, which he didn't know. "Your first Dark Spell. Useful, isn't it to be able to sense Dark Magic? I know that you could when you entered the room. I know you haven't forgotten and that it still calls to you."

"I won't do any Dark Magic," Scorpius said, thanking Merlin that his voice didn't shake. "I was seven then. I didn't know what exactly you asked me to do."

"But you did." Lucius' long fingers grabbed Scorpius' hand and turned it over roughly to expose a faint line along his wrist. "You did and you carry that reminder with you everyday." Scorpius yanked his hand back, cradling it to his chest as if he had been burned.

"I remember everyday how evil you are and how I'll never be anything like you," Scorpius insisted as he began to search for a way out.

"Now Scorpius, I see you searching for a way out. I can't let that happen. After tonight things will change. No longer will Death Eaters hide in the shadows. We no longer will worry about the taste of death, that isn't our goal. We are the Dark Plague. We will be the rulers of the Wizarding world, the creators of society, the shapers of magic. You have to make a choice." Lucius pulled his wand free from his cane, "There is a potion which will allow you to enter our ranks, to be allowed to hear our darkest secrets. You will also be held by Unbreakable Vow of course, even though Bryce did an excellent job with his blood promise. If you don't join us, well, you are disposable, but I don't wish to have someone with so much potential go to waste."

"Before I decide," Scorpius said, trying to stall in hopes that somehow he would be saved, "what is going on at Hogsmeade?"

"Great things," Lucius said with a sickening smile on his face. "We are purifying the magical race tonight."

_The end of magic?_ Perhaps the prophesy he'd heard was being fulfilled right now. He could stop this from happening; he was supposed to stop this from happening! With a deep breath, Scorpius focused his mind and allowed the whispers of Dark Magic to wind their way into his mind, careful to keep them from clouding his judgement, but just enough to give him the audacity to agree. "I'll join you."

"I knew you were a smart boy," Lucius led him over to the caldron and placed a piece of parchment on the table. "You must brew it yourself, but then you will feel power like you never have before." Scorpius picked up the silver knife from the table and just as he feared, it was the same one he'd used all those years ago.

_"Yes, Grandfather," he whispered as he stared at the short list of ingredients._

_"To be able to sense Dark Magic is vital for any practitioner, Scorpius. This is the beginning of your training. You will be open to an entire world you haven't experienced before." The young boy nodded mutely. He didn't want to be a Dark Arts pract- something. He wanted to be able to go outside and work in the gardens with his mum. With his imposing grandfather standing over him, he began to measure out four spoonfuls of crushed elm bark after setting the knife back down. The potion was a simple one, and soon the liquid was as black as night and too thick to stir any longer. Scorpius was more sure than ever before that he didn't want to practice the Dark Arts. The potion was mild according to his grandfather, and Scorpius had to already add the heart of a toad to this potion._

_"There's one thing left, the most important," Lucius didn't notice or care about the sick look on his only grandchild's face. "Blood."_

_Scorpius gave a squeak of terror. Now he had to add blood? "Blood of what?"_

_The knife was pressed back into his hand, "Yours."_

"What are you waiting for?" Lucius roughly shook his shoulder, "Start brewing." Mechanically, Scorpius began to measure out the ingredients. It was just another potions class, he was brewing something along the lines of Giggling Solution or maybe a Pepper-Up Potion. Albus would no doubt try to get Rose to help him with his potion while she would keep telling him to bugger off. He blinked, and the memory was broken. His grandfather watched with a smirk as Scorpius twisted off the cap on the vial of unicorn's blood. "It's been said that drinking the blood of the unicorn causes a cursed life, that's a lie. It's more than life. It brings understanding." The potion turned clear as the vial of blood was poured into the cauldron. "Three stirs counterclockwise," Lucius hissed as Scorpius slowly stirred the mixture. When he stopped, the liquid turned bright red. Blood red.

"You've done the right thing," Lucius ladled the thick, red liquid into a cup and placed it into Scorpius' hands. "Drink up and feel its power."

Scorpius looked down at his creation and closed his eyes. Was this the way he was supposed to prevent the end of magic? What other way could a thirteen-year-old stop the plans of wizards twice his age from outside of their ranks? The second he drank it however, there wasn't a way to go back. Lucius may believe that unicorn's blood would improve his life, but Scorpius knew better. A cursed life. That's what he had to look forward to. A cursed life or death. As he wasn't much help dead, there must be no other way. Hopefully in the end, the destruction of his soul that undoubtedly occur would be a small price to pay in comparison to everyone he could save. He could save his family, his friends. He could assure that Hogwarts was still teaching the next generation of witches and wizards years from now. He opened his eyes and met the cool gaze of his grandfather. "Cheers," Scorpius said sarcastically as he lifted the glass to his lips and prepared for whatever may come.

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**A/N: A WILD CLIFFHANGER APPEARED! I was going to finish up the battle in one really long chapter, but I'm going on a last minute vacation to Hawaii! YAY BEACH TRIP! The day after I get back I'm moving back up to school so I wanted to give you guys something before I disappear for two weeks. Now I'm sure you all aren't super happy with me as this cliffhanger is worse than the last one, but hey, it's something. What's happening with Rose, Albus, Alice and Lucy in Hogsmeade though? What is Scorpius DOING? He's not really going to drink that, is he? Or is he going to be a noble idiot, pull a Snape and begin working as a double agent? Crazy Lucius is back and goodness, just writing him makes me feel scared for Scorpius and I actually know what happens. What did you think of this chapter? Scary? Terrible? Do you want to hunt me down and make me post the next part immediately? Should I stop asking questions? :P**

**Much thanks to my lovely reviewers and my amazing beta, hermione-amelia-rose1479, you're the best. No seriously, you are. :D**

**Next Chapter: Scorpius rejoins the battle, but whose side is he on now? Has he joined his grandfather or has he escaped the cursed life to rejoin the fight alongside his friends? Most importantly, has he made the right decision or has he doomed the rest of the world with his choice?**

**Find out in two weeks! :)**


	20. Chapter 20: Aftermath

**Disclaimer: IT'S NOT MINE! But I'll take Harry Potter if you give him to me.**

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Chapter 20: Aftermath

Rose reached for Scorpius as he vanished along with his crazy evil grandfather, but her fingers only met air. "No!" She ran to the spot he had just disappeared from hoping that he would some how come back.

"Rose!" Albus gripped her arm and yelled over the din, "We need to move!"

He had already given up, Rose realized. Albus wasn't expecting Scorpius to return anytime soon after getting snatched up by a legitimately insane man. He wanted to just go save himself and leave Scorpius on his own. How Slytherin of him. Lucy and Alice stood on the edge of the trees, relatively covered, waiting for them to follow. A rouge spell struck the ground next to Rose shaking her out of her thoughts.

"I can't leave him!" she wrenched her arm free and began sprinting back towards the town lit up with the fires burning various buildings.

"Rose!" Albus and Alice called after her, while Lucy yelled something along the lines of making sure that she died a horrible, bloody death if anything happened to them because of her ridiculous noble streak. That was also putting what she said nicely.

She had always wanted to be an auror, but now with the spells flying overhead, a desk job sounded much nicer. There wasn't really time to think about that though, she had to find Scorpius. She shot a stunner at a figure in a dark, hooded cloak as she ran. "Stay calm," she breathed, leaping over the person that she had dropped. The flashes of light made it difficult to make out any shapes or figures even though she kept scanning the area for another target.

Her arm was roughly twisted out of its socket as a dark figure grabbed her and wrenched her back. Rose screamed and whipped around to hex her attacker, but before she could fire another spell, the hooded figure grabbed her wand arm and twisted it away so she couldn't fight. Now with both arms useless, she looked up into the face of her attacker. Unlike the Death Eater pictures that she had seen before, the man was unmasked.

Rose didn't recognize the man, but he gave her a twisted grin, "A Weasley?" At his words, the haze of fear left her and she managed to react. She slammed a foot into his kneecap, giving her enough time to stun him after he dropped her arm and run.

She crossed paths with Lucy who had blood on her face, but seemed otherwise unscathed. "Scorp?" Rose managed to gasp. Lucy gave a quick shake of her head before sending a spell at another figure behind Rose.

"Haven't seen that git since we got into this mess," Lucy growled while she took a moment to wipe blood off of her hands. Even though Lucy didn't exactly seem to be pleased with Scorpius, Rose knew that he was the only reason that she had gotten out of bed in the middle of the night and come to Hogsmeade. When Rose had reluctantly gone to get Lucy while Albus tried to revive Scorpius, it only took his name to draw her out of her warm bed and into the snow. "Al's hurt, he went to go find help," Lucy continued. "Don't know how as he's currently trying to make it back to the castle with a broken ankle." Rose and Lucy shot spells off at the same time, hitting two figures that were attempting to sneak up on them. "Alice keeps disappearing, bloody bad timing for a loyal Hufflepuff to not be so loyal."

"I've been around," Alice sniffed as she appeared next to them. Unlike the others, she only seemed slightly windswept and unhurt. "We need to move, now." Just as Alice got the two of them to move, a spell was shot past where they were standing. Rose let out a shaky breath. They had just nearly died again, Albus was hurt and Scorpius could be dead by now and she could feel herself loosing focus as her arm began to hurt even more.

"We need to find Scorpius," Rose said dumbly. At least she believed that she said that aloud. She glanced around to determine where they were running by while they continued to ward off the attacks of the Death Eaters that just kept coming. The Shrieking Shack rose up above them as they slid in the snow towards it. What if Scorpius was in a building? What if he wasn't even in Hogsmeade anymore? Before she could even consider the possibility, the old supposedly haunted building exploded, throwing her backwards into a snowdrift.

Rose found herself staring at the dark sky as the snowflakes stopped falling. It was cold, so cold, but at least she didn't hurt anymore.

xXx

The room seemed to have exploded. Books went flying over Scorpius' head as he was knocked backwards. The cup fell from his hands and shattered, causing the red liquid to spill along the floor. He didn't drink it did he? Quickly he rubbed his hand across his lips and was relieved that there wasn't even a trace of the awful potion. His ears were ringing and he couldn't stand straight, but he knew that if he didn't leave now, he wasn't leaving alive. Without a glance to see if his grandfather was alive or not, he managed to crawl over to a massive hole in the wall and peer out to see Hogsmeade village. He tumbled out into the snow and began to crawl across the ground while he tried to get his bearings.

"Scorp!" He squinted in the darkness as Alice stumbled over in the snow and fell to her knees in front of him. "We thought-"

He shook his head numbly, cutting her off, "Where's everyone else?"

"We were together, but then the Shack exploded-" Alice glanced around as Lucy stumbled over.

"'Course you are completely fine," Lucy muttered when she saw Scorpius. "You scare us all to death and you're _fine_."

"Where's Rose? Al already went to find help," Alice added, ignoring Lucy's mutterings.

The three of them eventually managed to get to their feet to begin looking for Rose. The spells that lit up the town had stopped and Scorpius hoped that perhaps the fight was over, but now Rose was missing and Albus could be anywhere.

Before they could go much further, Professor Garrott appeared in front of them. "Students? What are you doing here?"

"I had to come," Scorpius said. He didn't particularly want to explain his reasoning at the moment, especially when he was shaking from the cold and wanting to find Rose.

The professor looked at the three broken students, "I'm sending you to see the Headmistress," he pulled a paperclip from his pocket. "_Portus_. This isn't a place for students, and I'm sure she will want to question you."

Lucy and Alice each placed a finger on the paperclip, but Scorpius shook his head. "Rose is out there, Professor. She's probably hurt."

"One of you take him," the man sighed as Lucy roughly pulled Scorpius to her side before he could protest and the three of them were roughly yanked away from the cold and the dark into the warmth of the Headmistress' office.

The aged Headmistress didn't address the three students right away, Professor Longbottom had been nervously pacing the room and she allowed him to rush over to his daughter first. "Alice!" He gathered her up into a hug. Scorpius looked away and instead focused on McGonagall, who was studying the three students quietly.

"Professor Longbottom, Miss Longbottom and Miss Weasley, you should go down to the Hospital Wing. I'll speak to you later." The three of them filed out of the room, leaving Scorpius feeling more alone than ever, and more than a little intimidated. "I've been wanting to speak to you for a while Mr. Malfoy." Scorpius kept his face impassive. "I may not be anything like Albus Dumbledore, but I do know what goes on around Hogwarts."

"Do you know what happens in Hogsmeade?" Scorpius blurted before she could say anything more.

"Please elaborate Mr. Malfoy."

"What happened there tonight?"

She pressed her lips together in a thin line, "No one was killed. Which could be a good thing, except there are signs of Dark Magic around the area. It seems that we don't know what exactly occurred in the village tonight other than property damage, some Dark Magic spells and general fright. We will have to see what the Death Eaters do next."

"That's not what they call themselves anymore," Scorpius said quietly. "My grandfather says that they call themselves the Dark Plague."

The silence lasted for a moment as the Headmistress tried to compose herself, "That is a new development. You have been in contact with your grandfather then?"

"Yes." Scorpius didn't say anything else. How could he explain what exactly had happened tonight? He didn't really want to talk about it anyways.

Professor McGonagall pointed to a high backed chair in front of her desk for him to sit in while she gave him a piercing glare. "Even though you have broken countless school rules tonight Mr. Malfoy, and I do not know the whole story of how you ended up in Hogsmeade, I do know that whatever may have occurred with your grandfather tonight or in the past does not make you a practitioner of the Dark Arts."

It took all of his self control to keep a straight face, "What do you mean?"

"Dark Magic leaves traces, Scorpius. I don't know what your grandfather made you do, but it is not the will of others that shape ourselves, but our own. I expect a full recount of what occurred tonight, but for now, join your friends in the Hospital Wing. No doubt you wish to see Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley." Scorpius nodded and slid off of the chair. "And Mr. Malfoy?" He paused before he could open the door. "I will expect you to talk about this later." He left the room without acknowledging the Headmistress' last request. It was a childish notion, but he hoped that if he pretended that he didn't hear, that he wouldn't have to tell about the events of the night.

By the time that he reached the Hospital Wing, Scorpius was dead on his feet. The madness inside the room barely registered in his exhausted mind. He saw the Weasley family gathered around the bedside of Rose who was wrapped up in a blanket while she sipped some Pepper-Up Potion. Albus was sleeping in another bed, oblivious to the shouts and general chaos of the rest of his family. Scorpius didn't say anything to them, instead he slipped into the closest open bed and closed his eyes.

"You are _not_ getting out of talking to us that easily!" Scorpius woke up to Lucy shaking him.

He tugged the sheet over his head, "Lucy, I swear that if you don't leave leave me alone, I'll hex you." It still felt as if the Hogwarts Express had run him over and he didn't want to wake up.

"I'll break your wand." She yanked the sheet off of him, and Scorpius opened one eye to see Lucy standing impatiently over him while Rose, Albus and Alice were talking quietly in their beds on the other side of the room.

"Really, Lucy, leave him alone," Rose sighed. "He's probably just as tired as you are."

"I'm not going back to bed until I hear what happened." Lucy took a seat on his pillow after roughly shoving him into a sitting position.

"Merlin, I really hate you sometimes," Scorpius sighed as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Lucy gave him a rude gesture to show how much she cared about his opinion. "You're alright though?" He asked Rose, Albus and Alice.

"Fine," Alice shrugged.

"I've never been better," Albus said sarcastically. "I'm not supposed to move from this bed."

"We will all be fine," Rose said quietly, twisting the sheet in her hands. Scorpius frowned at her for a second. She seemed off somehow, not just shaken or upset like the rest.

"Now, what did your psychotic grandfather do to you?" Lucy prodded impatiently.

"Nothing. Well, he tried to get me to be a part of their-" Scorpius paused as he struggled to find the right word, "Crazy group." He took a deep breath before he launched into the story, knowing that Lucy would do anything to hear the story. After he finished, ending with falling asleep in the Hospital Wing, the occupants of the room remained silent for a moment.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," Rose pushed herself out of the bed and shakily made her way over to him.

"Rosie-" Albus warned as he watched her.

She waved him off dismissively and stopped in front of Scorpius, "You are the biggest imbecile I have ever met!"

Scorpius stared at her in shock, "_What_?"

"Really, did you think that you could join a group of adults and fight against them from the inside? You are the biggest moronic_ idiot_ I've ever met! You are going to get yourself killed!"

"Shut up already Rose. He's onto something I think." Lucy snapped, silencing Rose's tirade.

This time, it was Rose's turn to look shocked, "You agree?"

"Sure. How else is Scorpius supposed to take care of his prophecy? It's not like a thirteen year old could do much from the outside."

Scorpius had been agreeing with everything Lucy had said, but couldn't help feeling a little stung when she implied that he couldn't do anything. "I could have done _something_-"

"Just because it might be more effective doesn't mean Scorpius has to go jumping into situations where he could get himself killed!"

"He could have been killed if he hadn't agreed."

"This isn't going anywhere!" Alice threw her hands up in the air. "As I don't have to stay in here, I'm leaving. Rosie, go back to bed. Luce, just stop picking fights already. Al, just continue being unhelpful." The Hufflepuff left the room quickly, shutting the door with a snap.

"Alice's right," Albus said after a minute, laying back down. "We should get some rest."

Lucy and Rose returned to their beds, leaving Scorpius alone without saying a word. Why did things always seem more complicated than they needed to be, he wondered as he closed his eyes again and fell into dreams of dark shadows lurking in the corners of his mind.

xXx

Scorpius sat alone on the Hogwarts Express reading a book. He blew a piece of his long white blond hair out of his face. How had he ended up alone on the train? The five of them had gotten on the train together, but it had only taken a few minutes before Lucy and Rose started fighting, and Alice and Albus slunk away. Eventually, Scorpius had kicked them out, telling them to leave until they calmed down. Just because they were his best friends didn't mean that he didn't want to strangle them every so often.

Rose threw open the door of the compartment and fell into the seat across from him, "Lucy is talking to Surey!"

He sighed and marked his page with a finger, "He's not a vampire, Rosie."

"He's at least a Slytherin! Really, Lucy is more of a slimy-"

Scorpius gave her a look, "What part of 'leave until you stop hating each other' did you not understand?"

"Whatever," She huffed. Before Scorpius could return to his book, she spoke again, "Can you believe it's summer again?"

"Can you believe nothing has happened since April?" Scorpius countered.

"Being friends with you, I can't believe it at all," She teased back. The past few months had been quiet. The most notable event was signing up for their third year classes. Rose and Scorpius were both taking Ancient Ruins and Arithmency. Albus and Alice were in Care of Magical Creatures. Albus had also added Muggle Studies while Alice opted for Divination.

He shrugged and turned back to his book, "Here's to some quiet moments to come then."

Lucy threw open the compartment door, "ROSE! You didn't need to hex Surey!"

Scorpius sighed and pointed as a sign for the girls to move their argument back outside. "Those two really are too much alike," he muttered as he turned another page.

The train chugged through the countryside, carrying a couple of friends who sat in their own compartment, thinking about their own secrets, two cousins who fought because they didn't know how to relate to someone so alike themselves and one quiet boy who was pouring over a book that only he knew was entitled _Secrets of the Darkest Art_.

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**A/N: I'M ALIVE! Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth, I started school again, which means I drove halfway across the country to move back into my apartment. Also, my free time isn't filled with writing as much as it used to be. I have homework again (WHAT IS THAT?! 0_o) and I've picked up my old habit of just running around town like a crazy person with my friends. But yeah, CLIFFHANGER NO MORE! Kinda. What is Scorpius up to now?!**

**There is a reason for the giant time skip, third year is going to be action packed! I'm super excited for it. :D**

**THANKS TO MY FANTASTIC BETA, hermione-amelia-rose1479.**

**Now, are you ready for third year?! Don't believe me when I say it's going to be CRAZY? This is what I've got planned:**

**Now in his third year, Scorpius is ready to move beyond his troubled past and be a normal Hogwarts student. The Ministry of Magic has other plans for him though, plans that have the potential to ensure that he is never just a normal student ever again. While continuing to reject the Ministry's advances, Scorpius tries to continue to hold his group of friends together, but as the year continues, it seems that things will never be the same between them- especially because he wants to be more than just friends with one of them. Secrets will be revealed, people will be betrayed, a prophesy will come true, more attacks will occur... and someone will _die_.**

**Stay tuned and PLEASE REVIEW! :D**


	21. Chapter 21: Summer Views

**Disclaimer: I disclaim! ...Wait I just looked disclaimer up and it actually can be used as a verb. I just thought that I was being silly, but I'll accept being grammatically correct too. Anyways, it's not mine!**

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Year Three: Predictions Fulfilled

Chapter 21: Summer Views

A girl sat on the edge of a river, chucking stones into the slow moving water and watching them sink. Out here she could relax and not worry about the questioning looks of her parents. She wouldn't have to lie to her friends about why exactly she couldn't spend time with them this summer either. It's not that she didn't want to spend time with them, she did, but she didn't know how long she could lie directly to their faces.

Sometimes she wondered why she had to deal with this. She wasn't a serious person, definitely not brave like her friends. There were times when she thought that somehow something had been messed up. She must have been sorted incorrectly or her bloody "gift" wasn't meant to be hers. For Merlin's sake, she just wanted to be able to bounce around like she used to, flirt with a couple of guys and maybe get semi-decent marks in her classes. Her hand found a large rock and she hurled it into the water with enough force that a small wave rose up and splashed her.

She closed her eyes in annoyance, but didn't open them again for a few minutes. When she finally opened her eyes again, Alice Longbottom let out a scream loud enough to startle the birds up in the trees above her.

xXx

Albus Potter lay outside in the tall grass hiding from his siblings. He could hear James taunting him to come out, but Albus wasn't as thick as others thought him to be. If he moved, he knew that his brother would no doubt subject him to some sort of torturous prank. James paused his calls for Albus and Rose's voice could be heard. Albus fisted some of the tall grass in frustration, knowing that now that Rose had appeared, she would be James' next target.

Albus hadn't seen his cousin in a few weeks, and no doubt she wouldn't want to speak to him again anytime soon after James did whatever he was planning to her. Rose gave a scream loud enough to drown out James' laughter, and Albus let his head fall backwards into the dirt. He was such a coward.

xXx

Rose Weasley wasn't sure what was wrong. Ever since April, she'd been feeling off, like there was something that she was missing. She glanced across the room at her younger brother who was reading a book and tried to tell herself that she was just worried that he was starting school this year.

"You're thinking too loudly," Hugo said without looking up from his book. Rose rolled her eyes, leave it to Hugo to say something creepy and cryptic. "No really," Hugo looked up at her. "I know you are under the impression that the entire wizarding world rests on your shoulders, but go think somewhere else. I would like it to be quiet." She made a face at him, but got up and instead went to go brood somewhere else. It was true though, the world didn't rest on her shoulders. It was all, supposedly, on someone else who might not be able to handle the pressure. Why couldn't _she_ relax then?

xXx

"That's ridiculous!" Percy Weasley fiddled with his glasses while Lucy huffed in annoyance.

"Is it really that ridiculous that I don't want to be in the Ministry, Dad?" Her father had decided to have a chat about her future, but of course her plans didn't fit with his perfect plan for her. She wasn't Molly who agreed to everything their parents told them. He just couldn't take a hint now could he? Her father was now ranting about how beneficial the Ministry could be in her life, obviously oblivious to her defensive position. Did he not recognize that slumping in her seat, arms crossed and an obvious scowl meant that she didn't want to continue the conversation?

"-Knowing the people in the Ministry will prepare you for-"

"Look, Dad," Lucy stood up as she spoke over his rant, "I'm going for a walk. To think." Such a lie. She wouldn't be thinking about joining the Ministry.

"Fine," Percy sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. Lucy left her family's home and wandered down the street, keeping her eyes straight ahead, watching the setting summer sun.

It only took a moment for someone else to fall into step beside her, "Rough day?"

Lucy snorted, "You have no idea, Surey."

xXx

Malfoy Manor was quiet. The inhabitants were sleeping, at least that's what they were supposed to be doing. Astoria Malfoy sat out on the balcony looking up at the full moon while her husband slept. She didn't sleep well anymore. If she managed to scrape a couple hours of solid sleep together, it was a miracle. Every time she had closed her eyes, she couldn't help but worry about Scorpius and Draco. Merlin, how weak had she become. Caring about others enough to keep herself up at night. Her friends and parents would call it weakness, but Astoria knew it was love. Even though that love had undermined her own self preservation.

"You're keeping me awake," Draco grumbled from inside the room. Astoria turned around to see him frowning at her with one eye open.

"That's what I was trying to do." She turned back to examine the clear sky again. "I was thinking of taking up Astronomy again so I can name all the stars when I stay up at night."

"Good for you," Astoria felt herself get tugged back up onto her feet and dragged back into the room. "Now go to bed and think about it in the morning."

She pulled Draco's wand from his hand to break the spell and placed it back on the table by his bed. "Technically, it is morning."

"Think about it when the sun is up." He closed his eyes again, but continued to frown.

Astoria bent down and smoothed his hair before giving him a quick kiss, "No promises." Draco didn't open his eyes, but when she pulled away, he was smirking. She smiled at him, he may be the cause of many of the reasons she couldn't sleep at night, but she knew what she was getting into when they fell in love. Astoria Greengrass wasn't one to be deluded by love, she had known what would happen if she tied her name to the Malfoy's. She slipped under the silk sheets and curled up next to Draco before trying to fall sleep. Neither her or Draco saw the shadowy figure running in the moonlight towards the forest.

xXx

Scorpius clutched his wand as he sprinted for the forest's edge. He might not be able to use magic in non-life threatening situations, but going into the forest during a full moon without a wand was about as safe as putting Lucy and Rose in the same room. He quickly fell to his knees as soon as he reached the first trees and began to dig frantically, his wand momentarily placed aside as he dug his fingers into the cold earth. Once the hole was a few centimeters deep, he managed to unearth a few worms. "Ugh." He breathed as he examined the pale wiggling worms to make sure they were what he needed. Making sure that he snatched up his wand again, Scorpius sprinted back towards the Manor, glancing back to make sure that nothing was following him before he opened the door and slipped inside quietly.

He barely breathed until he slipped into his room again, safe and undetected. Instead of going straight to bed, he threw open his wardrobe to expose a bubbling cauldron. The thick book sitting next to the cauldron was opened to a potion page where numerous ingredients had been scratched out when they were added. "Three non-magical worms, gathered at full moon." Scorpius whispered as he dumped them into the mixture. The bubbling sludge changed from brown to black and he sighed in relief. After months of sneaking around and collecting the ingredients, all without using magic, his mixture was finally complete. He consulted the old battered book which stated to consume the entire mixture before the next full moon. "Fun." He said sarcastically as he filled a goblet and swallowing it in one gulp. The effects were instantaneous. Scorpius fell to the floor, trying to keep the potion down as his body tried to reject the disgusting mix. He barely noticed the glass shattering before he sprinted towards the bathroom, knocking over the book he was reading from, exposing the title, _Secrets of the Darkest Art_.

"No wonder they give you a few weeks to drink all of that," Scorpius gasped as he lay on the cold floor in his bathroom. He was proud that he managed to keep the disgusting potion down, but then he remembered that he still had an entire cauldron full in his room. He groaned and banged his head against the tile.

"Scorp?" His mother knocked on the door.

"Uh- What?" He cleared his throat as his voice cracked.

"Are you alright?"

"Never better." He managed to push himself off of the floor and stick his head outside to face his mum. "Bye now." Astoria shook her head before leaving him alone again. Scorpius shut the door and slid down to rest his head on his knees. He would have to be more careful if his mother was coming to check on him at four in the morning. After a few minutes, he slunk back to his room and cleaned up the mess that he had made. He swept the broken glass under the wardrobe and picked up the book. The page he had been reading had crumpled, and he smoothed out the wrinkles until the title of the potion was legible again, Protective Elixir, designed to protect the drinker from some of the Dark Arts.

The book was tossed unceremoniously back next to the cauldron and he padded back over to his bed. Even though Scorpius wanted to make sure that he would at least be somewhat protected in case his grandfather reappeared, but for now, he would rather not drink the disgusting mixture that he had made.

It was the end of July, and he hadn't seen any of his friends all summer, and from what he had heard, none of them had seen each other either.

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**A/N: This may be a really short chapter, but hey, it's not exactly filler! I've wanted to write from a few different POVs for a while, what do you think? I LOVED writing Lucy. Were you expecting her to befriend Surey? I barely hinted at it last chapter, and as my fantastic beta said,_ that's_ why Lucy needs a slap.**

**By the way, HEY YOU READER! I don't usually plead for reviews, but if I say please, will you? Please? Pretty please? I'll give you a small preview of the next chapter if you ask for one in your review... :) (Which means, yes, most of the next chapter is written too!)**

**Thanks to all of those who have favorited/alerted/reviewed YOU ROCK! And a special thanks to my beta, hermione-amelia-rose1479 who is just continuing to be fantastic and awesome.**

**Next Chapter: Scorpius might actually be sick of summer now. His parents are keeping secrets from him again, his friends barely write, and he's just pissed off in general. He receives two letters that change things, one from the Ministry of Magic and one that might actually kick him out of his bad mood. (Or as Lucy would say, bad personality.)**


	22. Chapter 22: Letters

**Disclaimer: NOT MINE!**

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Chapter 22: Letters

_Dear-_

Scorpius shoved the paper that he had been staring at for the past five minutes away. Who was he supposed to write to? Things had ended awkwardly between everyone at the beginning of summer, and he had only received a few letters from his friends. Rose had written him the most, but he had still only received three letters from her. He smoothed out the paper and added one more word so that _Dear Rose_ now was scrawled across the top of the page. He sighed deeply before writing:

_Dear Rose,_

_Things are good. I haven't done much this summer, just mostly helping Mum in the garden. No, I haven't heard from anyone else recently. Albus said that maybe he could come by sometime. Has anything interesting happened since the last time you've written? Hope you're well._

_Scorp_

_P.S.- Please don't worry about me. I'm fine, really. No need to spend an entire paragraph asking me if I've gone mad yet._

Scorpius sighed as he woke up Ceres who was napping in her cage, and tied the pitifully short letter to her leg. Rose wasn't going to take that letter well, but at least it was better than nothing. He pushed himself away from his desk, and crossed the room in a few steps to his wardrobe. Inside of the cauldron remained only a little bit of the awful potion he had brewed a couple of weeks ago. He tipped the heavy cauldron on its side and poured the last little bit into the plastic cup that he now used. It took a moment for him to gather the courage to throw back the last of the sludge. Unlike the other times that he drank the mix, he didn't feel the urge to be sick. Instead, a shiver passed through him, and then there was nothing. He blinked in shock, that was it? He had expected something more extravagant as the potion took effect, but just nothing? Cautiously, he edged out of the room and across the hall into his bathroom. He gripped the sink tightly before glancing up at his reflection.

Scorpius wasn't sure what he was expecting to see. The potion, in theory, was supposed to diminish the effects of Dark potions and spells, but not without using a little Dark Magic in return. More like grey magic, but Scorpius still felt disgusted with himself. It was necessary lesser evil though, as if his grandfather ever got his hands on him, Scorpius was sure that he would be forced to do a lot worse than capturing and killing a few small creatures.

Despite convincing himself that what he had done was for the best, he still felt awful and expected to see that in his reflection. He looked exactly the same, light hair, the small, slightly pointed features of his father, his mother's blue eyes. Slightly more pale, he noted as he examined his reflection, but that was to be expected. He frowned at his reflection, and his face in the mirror did the same.

"Scorp!"

He opened the door to yell back, "What, Mum?" When his mother didn't reply, Scorpius sighed and reluctantly trudged downstairs. Silence meant that he was required to go find his mother himself. In the kitchen, Scorpius found his mother trying to reach some spices up on the top shelf of a cabinet.

"Can you reach it? You've gotten much taller now." She stopped straining to reach the bottle, and Scorpius took her place, easily reaching up and pulling the bottle down.

"There are spells to reach things, Mum," Scorpius huffed. "Like, _Accio_."

"Can't I spend a little more time with you? Summer is nearly over and it feels like I've barely seen you."

"I guess." He plopped down in a chair in the kitchen as his mother gathered the rest of the ingredients to cook dinner. Neither of them said a word until she pulled out some matches to light the stove. "Mum,_ magic_." Scorpius scoffed as she dropped one of the sticks, extinguishing the flame.

"Can't we do things the muggle way for fun?" She dropped another match after it burnt her. "_Shite_!"

"Let me go get your wand." Scorpius stood up to go find it, but Astoria shook her head.

"I- I've misplaced it." She hung her head and struck a match so hard that it snapped in half.

"_You've misplaced your wand_?" Scorpius gaped at her. Even he always had his wand on hand and he couldn't even use magic yet. She gave a halfhearted shrug. He took a moment to recover from the shock that his mother was careless enough to lose her wand before he quickly took the matches from her to light the stove himself.

"Thank you," She said quietly as she began to slice vegetables to cook.

"When Dad gets home, he could use a quick spell to find it-"

"Draco won't be home for a few days," Astoria said absentmindedly, finishing up chopping up a carrot and moving onto celery.

"Okay then," Scorpius rolled his eyes, "_I'll_ go find it."

"You don't need to do that Scorp. I'll find it later."

"Really now, Mum." Scorpius left the room before she could speak again and climbed up to his parents' bedroom. Doubtful that he would find it in there, Scorpius stuck his head into the room for a quick peek, and was shocked to see his mother's wand carefully placed on the table next to her side of the bed. He scooped it up and double checked that it was hers before going back downstairs.

"Some post came for you earlier by the way," She said with her back turned to him as she worked at the stove.

"Your wand was by your bed, Mum." Scorpius tossed it onto the counter next to her before snatching up the letter.

"Thanks," she mumbled as he left the room and collapsed onto the more comfortable sofa to read the post. Clearly the letter was not from one of his friends. The envelope was made from thick fancy parchment and his name was written in fancy, curly letters on the front. Turning the letter over in his hands, he noticed that it was sealed with a wax M. He tore the seal in half and pulled out a thick piece of parchment which read:

_Dear Mr. Malfoy,_

_It has recently come to our attention that there has been a prophesy made about you and most likely the most recent terrifying events that have been occurring. On behalf of the Ministry, I would like to extend a hand of fellowship in hope that perhaps we could work together on defeating the group that is currently terrorizing our fellow witches and wizards. It would be for the benefit of the wizarding world if we could work together to help eliminate this threat as soon as possible. We hope that contacting you before the problem gets too out of hand will help end this problem before it progresses further. We hope to avoid another problem similar to the one we faced along side Harry Potter over twenty years ago. We look forward to your cooperation._

_Regards,_

_Vernon Major_

_Secretary to the Minister_

"Mum!" Scorpius called as he ran back into the next room, "Did you see this?"

"See what?" She took the letter that he was waving around frantically and frowned as she read it. "They just realized this now?"

"That's not the point! They want me to help them with what exactly? They want to work with a Malfoy doing _what_?"

Astoria handed back the letter calmly, "I think they want you to be the poster child."

"They want a Malfoy as the poster child?" He said trying to calm down, "They really aren't smart now are they?"

"Scorp-"

He angrily crumpled the letter. "I don't want to work with any of those bloody gits."

"Maybe you could talk to them. It sounds like they are willing to listen to Malfoys again-"

"Really?" Scorpius leaned up against the counter, the letter still crumpled in his fist. "Have you forgotten about Harry Potter? Everyone knows how the Ministry wanted a poster boy to either blame or be the savior of the wizarding world. I don't want to be the next Harry Potter."

"I'm sure they aren't looking for another Harry Potter," Astoria said with a shake of her head.

"You're right. They aren't. I'm not a golden boy. They'll probably just hand me back over to Grandfather and tell him to leave everyone else alone and take me."

"Scorpius, I really think that you could-"

"Mum!" Scorpius glared at her, "Stop telling me what to do!"

Astoria turned back to face him, and Scorpius quickly backed away towards the door. His mother may have been more mellow than she was in her school days, but when she was angry, he knew better than to stick around. "Fine. Do what you want." She pulled herself up to her full height as she glared. "But listen to me one last time then, and just _go_." Scorpius quickly backed up until he managed to edge his way out of the kitchen.

"Whatever," he muttered as he threw the letter into the wastebasket in his room. "It's not like she knows that would be a good idea anyways." Before he could lay on his bed to sulk- something that he had been in the mood to do all day- there was a tap at the window. He pushed open the window to let Ceres inside and he watched her settle on the edge of his desk.

"Back already? Rose had nothing to say?" She held out her leg in response to his questioning, revealing a rather thick looking scroll of parchment. "Or the opposite I guess." Ceres flew back out as soon as the twine around her leg was broken. Scorpius threw himself onto his bed, and prepared to sulk after reading Rose's letter, which no doubt would tell him that his responses were not long enough to convince her of his wellbeing.

_Scorpius-_

_I wish that you wouldn't lie to me. Don't you think that you are fooling me, you aren't fine. Anyone with eyes could have seen that at the end of the year, and since you've been holed up in the Manor for the past few months, I'm assuming that you are lying on your bed sulking. Now listen to me Scorpius, what happened wasn't your fault. None of us were permanently hurt, and even though I still question your sanity when I think about some of the decisions that you've made, I understand why you acted the way that you did._

_Now I'm a bit more worried about how you are now, not what you've done. You're my best friend Scorp. I miss my best friend, the one who won't lock himself away from everyone else for months on end. I will spend more than a whole paragraph asking how you are, and don't you tell me to stop by the way. Please Scorpius. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something. Come visit me. Come visit Albus if you don't want to see me. _

_I'm really avoiding the topic that I really want to discuss. What happened Scorpius? What really happened that night in April? You told us, but you didn't tell how that changed you. I know that I was a little preoccupied with proving that Surey is a vampire, but Scorp... You're different now. _

_Time for a little more tough love, you ready? You are being the biggest prick right now. I know that you are pissed off that your grandfather got to you as much as he did, but pull yourself together and stop it. Get up off of your bed, complete your homework that I'm sure that you haven't done because you are too busy feeling sorry for yourself, and live a little._

_I don't care if you don't come to see me. That's your choice. Either way, I look forward to seeing you on September 1st so that I can hex some sense into you._

_Love,_

_Rose_

_P.S.- I just reread through this letter, and Merlin I sound terrible. But hopefully this will get you to snap out of it._

Scorpius let the letter fall onto his bed as he stared at Rose's scrawl until the words blurred into illegible shapes. Eventually he rolled it back up and wandered over to his desk where he stuck it on top of his textbooks. He gave a small smile as he grabbed a piece of parchment and began to write.

_Rosie,_

_Did you really think that I hadn't finished my homework? I finished ages ago in order to have plenty of time to check it over in hopes of getting better marks than you did. I guess that I have been a prick recently, and I'm sorry Rosie. I really am sorry..._

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__**A/N: Ah this chapter... this is it for the summer. Next we get to go back to Hogwarts! **

**Thank you for all of your amazing reviews! PLEASE review! Once again, if you want a preview of the next chapter, just ask for one in a review!**

**Also, thanks to my fantastic beta, Hermione-amelia-rose1479.**

**Next Up: On the Hogwarts Express, Scorpius sees his friends for the first time in a few months. The Sorting occurs and classes begin, but of course things never go smoothly for our favorite Malfoy...**


	23. Chapter 23 Of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs

**Disclaimer: If this was mine, then I wouldn't be some random person on Fanfiction...**

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Chapter 23: Of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs

Scorpius barely gave his parents a hug as they stood on the platform. "Be good," his mother said as usual.

"Sure." He nodded, scanning the noisy platform for his friends.

"No, really," Draco drawled. "If you actually stay out of trouble this year, I'll buy you a racing broom for your birthday."

"Sounds good," Scorpius caught sight of a dark, messy haired boy. "There's Al. I'll see you over Christmas." Without a glance backwards at his parents, he dragged his trunk towards where Albus disappeared into the crowd. "Al!" He yelled when he came into view. "Oi, Potter!"

Albus turned around, and grinned at him, "Scorp! Blimey, when did you grow enough to make me look like a midget?"

"You're going to be stuck as a midget, Al." Scorpius rumpled his friend's hair in an attempt to annoy him. Albus slapped his hand away with an angry huff. "Where's everyone else?"

"Rosie's with the family- Oh." Albus glanced over at Scorpius and gave a nervous fidget. "We can't sit with you on the train."

"Why?" Scorpius stopped in the middle of the platform for a moment before running to catch up with Albus as he continued to push his way towards the train.

"Bloody family tradition. Everyone sits together when a new cousin goes to Hogwarts. Lily and Hugo start this year, so..." Albus shrugged helplessly. "You can still sit with Alice."

"Better than being in a crowded compartment with Rose and Lucy stuck together."

Albus groaned, "Don't remind me. I know that Lily and Hugo are going to do something to set those two off. All Lily needs to do is say that Rose is prettier than Luce and then Hugo will say something that proves that according to muggle science, they are equally attractive-"

"Come on," Lucy appeared on the platform next to Albus. "Hey Scorp. We are all ditching you on this train ride so that we can torment the baby cousins if you haven't heard. Now, Al," She looped her arm through his, "Lily and James are wondering where you are."

"Those are words I never want to hear," Albus mumbled as Lucy guided him towards the train as Scorpius trailed behind.

"No hard feelings," Lucy said as she helped him find an empty compartment. "You wouldn't want to spend time with all of us anyways, trust me." With that, she pulled a nervous looking Albus away as the two of them returned to the compartment full of redheads they had passed.

Scorpius settled back in his seat and pulled out a book that Rose had recommended while he waited for Alice to appear. He had been looking forward to seeing his friends again after such a long summer. He could remember seeing the family all sitting together the first time that he was on the train, but he didn't think that it was because Rose and Albus were starting school. "They're going to burn down the train with all of them in one compartment."

"I would be surprised if they didn't," Alice pushed open the door as she replied to Scorpius' muttering.

"We should be prepared for the-" Scorpius glanced up at her, and forgot what he was saying. Standing in the doorway was not the Alice Longbottom that he was familiar with. She had been round-faced and short when he last said good-bye, but now her face was heart-shaped, framed by long dark brown hair that glimmered in the light. She stepped into the compartment, and Scorpius swallowed.

"Scorp?" She waved a hand in front of his face. "Time to close your mouth or finish what you were going to say."

"I was saying something?" He still was reeling. Who was this girl sitting in front of him? She sounded like Alice, and he supposed that she looked a little like Alice, but Alice wasn't supposed to be, well, _pretty_.

"Merlin Scorp. Did the summer make you brain dead? You must have finished all of your homework within the first week and let your brain rot for the rest of the summer. That's what you did, didn't you? You're no fun to talk to when you have nothing going on in that head of yours. Maybe I should go find some of my other friends-"

"No!" Scorpius grabbed her hand, and then dropped it as if he had been burned. "Stay. Uh. How was your summer?"

"Boring!" She flopped back into the seat across from him and let her head fall back onto the seat so that her hair fanned out behind her. "I mean, I actually had time to read a book for fun. Who does that anyways? Other than you and Rose. Let me rephrase, what normal person does that? I would have much rather-"

Sometimes the fact that Alice babbled on was a good thing, and this was a time that Scorpius was truly grateful that she could hold a conversation all by herself. He tried to keep his eyes on her face, he really did try to pay attention to what she would have rather been doing. Of course there were things that he would rather be doing than listening to her.

"For the love of Merlin!" He snapped his eyes shut and rubbed his temples. What was his _problem_?

"I know! It's so unfair that Mom wouldn't let me go to the county fair. It's not like I'm going to expose myself as a witch. I'm really not that big of an idiot, but of course Dad has this belief that I'm just as accident prone as he was as a child-"

"I'm going to get some air," Scorpius leapt up from the seat and quickly ran over to the door. He needed to get out of the room, right now.

"I could come with you-"

"And I'm going to the loo." He slammed the compartment door shut with a little more force than was necessary as he quickly sprinted towards the end of the car. On his way to the bathroom, he bumped into James and Fred who were standing in the corridor whispering to each other. When he finally reached the bathroom, he flung the door shut with enough force to rattle the small room. He leaned up against the sink while he took a deep breath. Just because Alice looked a little different- he didn't want to admit that she was attractive- didn't mean he should be overreacting. "Why have I lost my mind then?" He stared at himself in the mirror until the memory that he had buried resurfaced.

"It's third year." He tapped his fingers against the cold sink as he remembered the first conversation he had ever had with Alice. "'_Scorpius Malfoy, I'll be your first kiss_.'" He gave a small laugh and let his head droop. She had toned down the flirting ever since they had become better friends, but now that he remembered her promise, he hoped that she might remember it too. He mussed his hair up in the mirror because according to Alice, she liked his hair messy. Someone started pounding on the door, and Scorpius threw it open only to be rudely yanked out by James.

"Run!" Fred said as he chucked a bundle of fireworks into the bathroom and shut the door.

Scorpius didn't wait a second before he began to sprint towards a compartment. James laughed as he ran behind him, "Welcome back to school, Scorpy." The fireworks exploded, blowing the door open as they began to spiral down the corridor of the train. James dragged Scorpius down as they danced in swirls of color. Fred and James whooped as people stuck their heads out of their compartments at the sound of explosions.

Roxanne poked her head out of the Weasley's compartment and joined in the cheering. "Nice going bro!" She gave Fred a high five.

"I'm supposed to discipline you as Head Boy," Louis said, poking his head out above Roxanne's, "but like I ever did that when I was a Prefect." James and Fred roared with laughter as they were pulled into their compartment by their family.

"You could join us," James said as he turned back to look at Scorpius as he staggered to his feet. "We could fit you in somewhere."

"That's okay," Scorpius thought of Alice sitting alone in the compartment. He did glance behind James to wave to Albus who seemed to be thoroughly disgruntled over what Lily was saying to him. He left the Weasleys to their party and returned to Alice.

"I was beginning to think that you fell into the toilet," she said as she flipped through the latest issue of the Quibbler.

"I did almost get killed by fireworks," Scorpius took his seat across from her and smiled.

"James and Fred?" She glanced over the top of her magazine.

"When is it not?" She shrugged and turned back to her magazine. Scorpius leaned up against the window and pretended to watch the countryside pass by while his mind was mostly occupied by the dark haired girl sitting a couple feet from him.

xXx

"You're alive," Alice commented as Lucy, Rose and Albus climbed into the carriage to head up to school. The rest of the train ride had passed in relative silence between the two of them, Alice only babbled a couple of times over the hours. Scorpius even found himself responding with similar babbling. He blamed bloody hormones.

"Mostly," Rose said darkly. "Hello Alice, Scorp."

"It wasn't that bad," Lucy replied as she settled into the corner seat.

"You were gone most of the time!" Albus said, "You disappeared after an hour."

"I was bored," she shrugged. "Can't I go see my other friends?"

"She didn't come see you did she?" Rose whispered as she settled in next to Scorpius. He shook his head. "Hm." Rose mumbled, but didn't say anything else.

The carriage lurched as they started to move. Albus continued to try to convince Lucy that staying in the Weasley compartment was the worst thing ever. Alice pressed her face to the window, watching for the castle.

"I didn't get a letter from you in the past couple of weeks," Rose said.

Scorpius shook his head and turned away from accidentally watching Alice, "Uh, yeah. We went to our house by the sea on vacation. We hadn't been in years and Mum wanted to go."

"Sounds like fun," Rose said, but then lapsed into silence after Alice squealed that the castle was coming into view. The five of them entered into the Great Hall together before Alice ran off to her own table. The hall after three years still was amazing as the flickering floating candles gave it an unearthly appearance. He slid into the spot next to Rose as Lucy and Albus sat across from them.

"Save a spot for Lily and Hugo," Rose reminded everyone.

"Oh right. Move," Albus waved some second years away from the spot next to him.

"What if they aren't in Gryffindor?" Scorpius asked. His three friends hissed in shock.

"They will be," Rose said, a horrified look on her face. "Weasleys, and Potters," she added with a glance at Albus, "Have always been in Gryffindor."

A hush fell over the hall as Professor Longbottom entered along with the line of first years. Lily and Hugo stood by each other in the middle of the line. Professor Longbottom set the Sorting Hat down on its stool in front of everyone and everyone waited for it to begin its song. After a pause that was longer than normal, it finally opened its mouth- flap, Scorpius mentally corrected himself- and sang:

_Welcome to another year_

_students of this great school._

_The time of sorting draws near_

_before we begin I give you this rule._

_This is the last year of calm_

_the storm is at the door._

_Only together can you be a balm_

_to what is in store._

_I wish to not split you_

_but that is what I must do,_

_and that is my cue_

_to begin sorting anew._

_This time I won't tell_

_of the traits of each house._

_Your judgements you should quell,_

_stand together, your separations douse._

_Hear me now:_

_The end is here._

_Under the pressure do not bow._

_Enjoy this last year._

The Sorting Hat fell silent before the entire Great Hall burst into fearful cries. "That's it?" Lucy said in annoyance.

"The end?" Rose gripped Scorpius' arm, "Last year of calm? Scorp..." He looked down at her and allowed Rose to lace their fingers together. "What's going on?"

"Students! Settle down!" Professor Longbottom tried to calm the first years, a few of them had started to cry in fear. Scorpius noticed that Hugo was standing their watching the chaos calmly.

"I don't know what's going on," Scorpius responded. "And is it wrong to say that I don't really care?"

Rose's eyebrows shot upwards, "Yeah, that is kind of messed up."

"We are just kids, and I don't care if everything goes crazy outside of school, just as long as we are all fine." He pulled his hand away from Rose's. "I just want to be a normal kid." She snorted, but looked away as the first student took her place to be sorted.

Lily was up before Hugo to be sorted. She held her head high as she took her spot on the stool. The hat slid over her fiery hair, hiding her face from view. It took a minute before the hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily sprinted down the aisle to take her place next to Albus, where she collapsed in relief.

"Do you know what the hat meant?" She asked before anyone could congratulate her on her sorting.

"That life is going to suck," Lucy replied unhelpfully as she politely clapped for the newest member of Hufflepuff house.

"Always helpful aren't you?" Lily rolled her eyes.

"Sh!" Rose threw her arms out to silence anyone speaking around them. Scorpius barely dodged getting hit in the face, "Hugo!"

Sure enough, Hugo Weasley was walking towards the stool and slipped the hat on his head. Rose bounced up and down in her seat and clung to Scorpius' arm again. Hugo's decision didn't take as long as Lily's, it was only a couple of seconds before the hat yelled, "RAVENCLAW!"

"WHAT?" Rose stood up, slamming her hands down on the table, "No, Hugo!" Her little brother only gave a quick glance her way before he made his way over to the blue clad students.

"Sit down Rose. You're making a scene," Lucy said as Rose sank down into her place.

"But, Hugo's supposed to be with us," she frowned. "_Ravenclaw_?"

"I'm really not that surprised," Lily said as the sorting finished and food appeared. "Hugo's always been ridiculously smart."

"So am I!" Rose said in considerable distress, "But I'm here!"

"Lily's right- don't you dare quote me saying that-" Albus glared at his sister who made a face at him. "Hugo has been unnaturally smart. Bizarrely so. I think he would fit in with the Scamander twins than with us over here." The Scamander boys, Lorcan and Lysander, had both just been sorted into Ravenclaw earlier that night.

"But he's my_ brother_." Rose covered her face with her hands.

"Why should it matter if you are sorted into a house different from the rest of your family?" Scorpius pointed out. He was beginning to become annoyed with Rose. Had she forgotten that there were others that had been sorted into houses that their families didn't come from? "It doesn't matter where everyone else wants you to be placed, but where you are supposed to be."

"But-"

"Drop it Rose," Scorpius snapped as he stabbed the food on his plate with a little too much force.

"We really should be talking about what is going to happen this year anyways," Lucy said calmly. If Scorpius didn't know her better, he would have thought that she was bored.

"The end? It sounds like those bloody crazy people will do something drastic," Albus said after a moment of silence. He shoveled another bite of food into his mouth, "This last year makes it also sound like Hogwarts might close."

"But Hogwarts can't close! It was even open during the time of the Second Wizarding War under Snape-"

"Rose, they had to keep it open," Lucy interrupted. "If something bad happens this year, there might not be someone forcing everyone to come back."

"Especially if magic doesn't exist anymore," Albus said with a shiver.

"What about magic not existing?" Lily piped up. Scorpius sighed and let his friends carry the conversation. He really didn't feel like participating in the discussion about whether or not they would be sitting in these same spots a year from now. If he was supposed to prevent this next supposed war from breaking out, he was pretty sure that at this point, he would revert to his Slytherin heritage and run away.

"Scorp?" Scorpius glanced up and found the two Weasleys and two Potters staring at him.

"I'm going to leave early," Scorpius stood up as he shoved his half eaten plate of food away from himself.

"But dessert!" Albus looked aghast at the idea of skipping his favorite part of the meal.

"Not tonight." Scorpius waved to his friends and turned his back before he saw Rose attempt to follow him, only to be held back by Albus who just shook his head.

Scorpius made his way down to Louis who was sitting with some other seventh years, his arm around a pretty brunette who was giggling at something he said. "Could I get the password early? I'm a bit tired."

"It's 'Natalie is gorgeous.'" The girl giggled even harder at Louis' words. "Naw, just joking. Sorry, love. It's 'Weasley is our king.'"

Scorpius stood there and waited for Louis to tell him the real password, but he turned back to his food. "Oh, you weren't kidding?" Scorpius mumbled to himself more than to the Head Boy. He made his way into the empty hall and up the stairs away from the noise that came from the Great Hall. Now that he was alone, he couldn't stop the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that pointed out that there was no way that he could avoid trouble this year. Just because he was refusing to acknowledge his part in whatever was going on didn't mean that trouble wouldn't come find him anyways.

* * *

**A/N: *Drags self up from the depths of despair* Hi everyone... Forgotten about this story yet? I promise that I haven't, my life has just been increasingly insane. Like unbelievably nuts. So, I am so very, very sorry. This has been written for a few weeks, but I hadn't edited it or sent it off to be beta'd until recently.**

**I AM SO SORRY.**

**I would say that it won't happen again, but my tests, impending holiday, work schedule, and just LIFE aren't exactly doing what I want them to. I hope that you guys are still reading this!**

**So tell me your thoughts! AliceXScorpius...? What is going on there?! Hugo's sorting, was it so obvious or a nice change? Let me know! PLEASE! Please, please review! It makes my day. :)**

**THANK YOU to those reviewers, those who have put this story on alert and favorited! Also, thanks to my AMAZING beta, hermione-amelia-rose1479.**

**Next time: There is a misunderstanding in the Charms corridor on the first day of classes, Rose gets upset over multiple things, Lily and James form an alliance, Albus is caught in the middle of a Transfiguration lesson gone wrong and Lucy is still sneaking around with a certain Slytherin.**


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